Shaping the next generation of software developers
There are over 300,000 software developers working in the UK alone, and according to The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that software developer jobs will increase by 30 percent between 2016 and 2026 as new technology emerges. Here at GitHub, we want to help teachers train the next generation of software developers. GitHub Education helps students, teachers, and schools access the tools and resources they need to learn all about software development. It is used by 1.6 million students and more than 27,000 teachers. For teachers, the GitHub Student Developer Pack is a way to encourage your students to learn with industry-standard tools, so they can shine on technical teams once they start their career. Introduced six years ago, the GitHub Student Developer Pack was built to provide students with the exact tools they needed to learn about software development. Since then, we’ve continued to listen to feedback from students and teachers around the world to make sure we’re bringing you the tools you want to enhance your training. The Pack provides students with the opportunity to develop their software portfolios, be it building a new desktop app, or creating an interactive map. This year, the pack includes over 50 of the best industry developer tools, which represent over £52,000 in the total value of services but at no cost to students. Resource and tools found in the Pack range from: AWS Educate, reliable, scalable, and inexpensive cloud computing services, free training, and collaboration resources Bootstrap Studio, desktop app for creating responsive websites using the Bootstrap framework Better Code Hub, an online source code analysis service So far, the program has provided over 1.5 million students around the world with the best real-world developer tools for free, and is promoting the importance of computer science to more students. It’s available for all verified students aged 13+, anywhere in the world where GitHub is available. They can join the Pack to receive GitHub Pro at no charge while in school and university, and receive exclusive offers from GitHub Education partners. The purpose is ultimately to show future software developers how we can use code to speak to machines, to each other, and help build the world around us. In addition to the Pack, GitHub Education is deepening its commitment to the education community through offerings such as new learning modules for the Campus Advisor Program to prepare teachers to teach with Git, GitHub, and other industry tools in their classroom. An example of how professors use GitHub Education comes from professors Keith O’Hara and Sven Anderson at Bard College, New York, USA. They wanted to make significant strides in the diversity of computing, and sought to do so by connecting computing to other disciplines, like art and biology. They ran a workshop using GitHub Education teaching students how to write algorithms to generate poetry, make a robot sing and dance, or create virtual fish for a group fish tank. These fun and engaging workshops are helping to change attitudes towards computer science, and other STEM subjects. If you’re looking for other inspiring coding projects to start with your pupils, check out the GitHub Student Gallery.
How a virtual learning environment can transform higher education
Greg Crichton, Head of Information Services at Oxford Brookes University, discusses the university’s IT strategy, and how its agile virtual learning environment continues to help it achieve its vision of transforming university life through the use of digital technologies. At Oxford Brookes University, our IT Strategy 2020 is well underway. The key outcome of this long-term strategy is to deliver and support a rich set of information technology services that are customer-focused, and contribute to our vision of transforming university life through the use of digital technologies and services. Providing information technology services that meet the needs of our students is a key objective for our IT Services. Their needs are diverse and they are generally very early adopters of new technologies, which create opportunities for the University’s IT landscape. In 2013, as part of this strategy, we started our partnership with CoSector – University of London, when we decided it was time to implement a new Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Drive for change The first project I inherited when I moved to a new role in the University was to implement a new VLE. The drive for this change came from student and staff, who told us that the existing platform wasn’t flexible enough. This resonated with our IT colleagues as, from a technical viewpoint, its flat hierarchy didn’t allow us to create categories that could represent programmes. In order to align with the IT strategy, we wanted to offer a much more versatile approach, and at Oxford Brookes we strive for quality when selecting new digital services, specifically favouring ones that are future proof and can adapt to changing needs. Part of our strategy continues to be focused on the use of technology to enhance both the transactional elements of staff and student experiences and transformational learning, which underpins a commitment to providing an excellent online learning experience. In order to achieve this, it is vital that the university offers an attractive, digital learning experience that meets the needs and expectations of both our staff and students. Oxford Brookes decided to do some peer analysis and requirements gathering, to evaluate the services that other institutions were using. Once this process had been completed, Moodle, a widely used VLE, was seen as the right solution for us. CoSector was chosen as the service partner due to its knowledge of the sector, being an academic institution itself. Today, the University works with the CoSector Digital Learning team, which includes the hosting and technical support of the Moodle VLE platform, including Mahara (e-portfolio) integration. An ongoing partnership The original tender for the VLE implementation was very technical, and CoSector were initially required to only host the Moodle platform. However, since the partnership began, our relationship has evolved significantly and we’ve expanded the use of Moodle into other areas outside of online learning; including the integration of student management records and mobile apps. As a result, the Moodle platform has changed from a standard VLE, into one of the University’s most used digital services, and it has become thoroughly embedded into the University’s digital environment. And maintaining a 24/7 service is critical to teaching and learning at the University. CoSector provides ongoing technical support and advice for this, and both organisations have since embraced a service credit model, which provides a better understanding of how much capacity each side has, and allows for easier communication. This gives a level of independence to the University: for example, if a product requires changes within the Moodle platform, the University can quickly inform their Digital Learning team, and, as a result of opting into the tailored Service Level Agreement service, we can request the installation of third-party plugins as well as plugins developed onsite. This activity is based on an element of trust between both parties; speeding up the process and enabling a better workflow between the two organisations. Oxford Brookes has a vision to be at the forefront of digital transformation in the HE sector, and good working partnerships are fundamental to this vision succeeding. Bournemouth & Poole College select CoSector – University of London for its virtual learning environment Bournemouth & Poole College is home to 11,000+ students from across the region, the UK and the world. The institution is the largest provider of Further Education (FE) and Apprenticeships in the surrounding area. The college supports a range of values, among them a passion for learning and success, within a supportive and caring environment. In order to uphold these values, it is important that the college offers the best learning experience that is supportive to the needs of every student. Bournemouth & Poole College’s core focus is on developing the work skills of students to ensure that at the end of their study, they are well placed to start or to progress in their chosen career. The college has a strategic plan ‘The Bournemouth & Poole College strategy 2017-2020: Inspiring Excellence’ to ensure it meets this vision. The ambition is to be recognised for excellence and by 2020, the college will be outstanding with student achievement rates amongst the highest. To help achieve its mission, the college has a number of areas of focus including; offer flexibility in delivery, developing its curriculum to meet the skills needs of the local economy; value and empower its staff and unlock their potential and make the college an attractive place to work; and foster innovation and be prepared to take risks, whilst ensuring a high trust culture. To this end, the college needs to offer an attractive, learning proposition that will enhance and enrich the student experience. Challenge In 2012 the college was using a virtual learning environment (VLE) platform, however this solution provided a high renewal quote and did not support the Individual learning plan (ILP) that Bournemouth had in mind for its staff and students. They therefore sought a new VLE that would support the features it needed, as well as providing a modern looking front end, that staff and students could interact with quickly and efficiently,
Unravel – A holistic psychology service which supports pupils, school and families
Andrea Chatten is the Managing Director & Lead Children’s Emotional & Behavioural Psychologist at Unravel. She is also the author of The Blinks novels supporting children’s well-being. Here, she discusses the work that psychology service Unravel does with children, their teachers and their families… How long has Unravel been practising? Unravel – a Children’s Emotional & Behavioural Psychology Service was borne in September 2014 and was quickly embraced by schools and parents who were in desperate need for bespoke intervention during highly emotional and challenging times. I knew that there was a service missing in Sheffield and the UK in order to translate and transform the behaviours that children present and to help recognise the needs to help each young person develop positively. Working with ages 5-16 has given us a deep understanding of developmental psychology and the expertise to help children and their families when behaviours are becoming a problem. Unravel recently celebrated its 5th birthday. Over this period, we have grown into a team of 14 amazing staff who are passionate and committed to improving children’s emotional well-being. Who needs Unravel? Unravel is for any child, family or school whereby negative emotions are impacting on well-being and quality of life. Growing up is hard but unless we interrupt the emotional cycle, these issues gain momentum across the lifespan and transcend into cross-generational concerns. The issues children are presenting with now, are more apparent and due to increased awareness, and lack of available services, we are dutybound to help them and as soon as possible. At Unravel we work with the whole child and help them to name and claim emotions, interrupt negative thinking patterns, gain invaluable insight and learn essential strategies to drive positive change. We work with any emotional issue that are causing problems to self-esteem and positive childhood experiences. How do headteachers get in touch with Unravel? Visit our website and have a look in more detail about the impact we have and what others have said about us. We pride ourselves on adapting to every school’s individual need so can create and tailor packages to meet logistical and financial restraints. Once we have fully discussed the way we will work together, we can begin getting the practical things in place to ensure our time with the children and young people in your school runs as smoothly as possible. We will also provide an impact report at the end of each academic year or intervention which feeds into your evaluation of the service and into correlated data to provide to Ofsted. Can anyone access Unravel? We are moving slowly and steadily across the country. Although we are based in Sheffield, private clients have travelled from as far as Edinburgh and London to access our services. We have also worked with children and young people internationally via skype. We aim to have Unravel available to wherever needs us, so get in touch and we will see what we can do. Mental health is becoming more widely understood by pupils, parents and teachers – but is there still more to be done? We haven’t even started yet. Accessing services to support children’s emotional well-being shouldn’t take 18 months but it often does and that is being optimistic. We term this as societal child abuse. No child should feel distressed or suicidal for half an hour longer than they need too. We need to get to children whilst they are psychologically “ripe†in order to prevent greater problems arising on top of the original issues causing emotional imbalance. What could school leaders do to ensure the mental health and wellbeing of pupils is really a priority in school? School leaders know that mental health is a priority in school as it presents many challenges every day. The knock-on effect also impacts on staff well-being, learning outcomes, costly permanent exclusion penalties and ultimately exam results and future prospects. Often, the schools we work in not only feel a benefit because of the work we are doing with the children and young people, but they also are able to feel a sense of relief as someone is doing the work that they feel out of their depth with. Schools are educational organisations but the demands to become experts in such a complex and sensitive area often brings heightened stress and concern. Schools are in safe hands with Unravel we will take that burden and pressure of you. Could you give a short case study of a pupil, their school and family who have been helped by Unravel? I once worked with a Y9 pupil who tried to commit suicide in school. This person had over many years masked what he was really feeling and tried to be what he thought he should be. Luckily, I was able to work with him straight away. This young person was in severe emotional distress and had many undiagnosed conditions that complicated the situation further. We worked together every week, sometimes twice a week for just over two years. Over this time, he began developing possible psychosis and so I was able to contact CAMHS and explain what was happening and find out where he was in the referral system since his suicide attempt. He was still 6 months away from being seen but they understood my concern and fast-tracked him through. Sadly, this young person’s parents did not want to accept the reality of the issues and so avoided appointments and he was consequently struck off. The young person and I were on our own, but we just kept going. Over time, he learned many strategies, which he tells me he still uses today. We challenged bias thinking patterns, engaged in mindfulness, relaxation. Applied neuroscience to help him understand his brain which also gave him the “why’s†which he needed to stick at things on more difficult days. By the time he left in Y11, he received the most outstanding pupil award. This intervention cost the school just over £4000 over two
The Evolving World of Sixth Forms: The Challenge of Change
In today’s evolving educational landscape, the challenge for school sixth forms to justify their existence and remain relevant and appealing to students looking for a ‘college style’ experience is greater than ever. As ‘consumers’ of further education, young people today have a multitude of options, experiences and opportunities open to them as they enter into the next stage of their educational journey. This new wave of students are clear about what they want, requiring a bespoke education that meets individual needs and expectations. They crave ‘newness’ or novelty of experience at post 16 but also a sense of belonging and ‘excitement’ for learning new things along with a stimulating learning environment. They want more freedom, bigger rewards, more choice, greater flexibility and a wealth of cutting-edge resources at their fingertips. The real challenge is how schools interpret and realise these new demands: sixth form today must appeal to the young adult who expects autonomy, quality and choice and whose parents encourage this. It’s a world away from ‘school life’ as we know it. The need for change As well as the general perceptions of ‘freedom’, funding vs. the range of qualifications on offer can also prove challenging for many schools. Creating an exciting, aspirational environment that mirrors a ‘college’ existence is no easy feat within the realms of a traditional school building. Yet modern sixth form provision, even five years ago, is beginning to look tired and out of date. Add to that, competition from state-funded colleges, independent ‘crammer’ colleges and even university-led foundation courses, all competing for the same pupils and it’s easy to see how the pressure on school sixth forms has grown in recent years. Students want a college-style environment because they believe they need a ‘change’ from the limitations of their previous school life. Yet pinning down what this specifically translates to in reality, can be tricky for schools. Whilst the need for ‘change’ can mean a great many things, a major factor for students is the need for greater freedom, in which case sixth form schools could revisit the current rewards on offer at Key Stage 5 – could students be allowed to sign out early, are they allowed to go out at lunchtime or could they ‘earn’ their freedoms through effort grades? How could this be ‘sold’ to them? For other students it is about the need to move as far away from being that Year 11 school pupil (who perhaps has not enjoyed their schooling at GCSE) as is humanly possible. Sixth form is a chance to ‘remake’ a student’s reputation and start afresh. In which case, is this about looking at how the staff perceive sixth form students moving through from Year 11? Is it about the language staff use to talk to sixth formers? Does the sixth form ‘feel’ different or more collegiate in atmosphere? If there is still a strong desire to move across to a college to experience these changes, schools could be proactive, drawing up a list of students to speak with, questioning perceived need against learning maturity or readiness for this environment. Rely on the expertise and knowledge of the Head of Year 11 in your school and include the Y11 pastoral team on this journey because their role in marketing is as important as anyone else’s in the school. A conversation with the students and their parents to discuss these perceptions and their educational needs using evidence of their learning from data and teacher testimony will make a compelling case. Getting parents on board and to realise their role is very important in this decision is crucial so it is important to win the hearts and minds of the entire family. A hard act to follow Cutting-edge college facilities today can be a hard act to follow, with roomy seminar spaces, high-tech innovation, modern furniture, laid-back café cultures etc. therefore, schools need to take a creative look at their sixth form common rooms, study spaces, libraries and refreshment facilities to create that college ambience that students are looking for, if they are to truly compete. There is a place for school sixth forms who can offer this and manage well the challenges that come with it, operating within whole school rules and restraints. Beyond, this, schools need to think about what they can offer well, which other institutions cannot. Where sixth form schools have an advantage is that the relationship with the Year 11 student is already established, and staff can form new relationships with external students quickly with a suite of transitional and induction marketing events. We can also use prior knowledge of existing students to communicate that individual needs would be better met in a sixth form school where they are known, where their current standard of work is known and therefore will receive more personalised academic attention quickly. Of course, having an outstanding HE programme and the gold dust of supportive Alumni to offer careers fairs, panels, networking breakfasts, high profile visiting speakers etc. could entice students to consider their options more carefully. Partnering with other schools to ensure mixed-sex experiences or state-independent experiences is a great way to ensure students mix with people from diverse backgrounds, thereby replicating a more college-like experience. Ensuring your relationships, teaching and learning standards are known for excellence is also important and often the key reason students stay on at a school or will make the leap to a new school. It is about creating a loyal following based on faith in the ‘product’ you are marketing for this consumer-savvy market. Separate but still integrated Probably the biggest challenge is to keep the sixth form separate and also a part of the school that Year 11 students still want to attend for their further study. Using your happy sixth formers to engage in initiatives across the school such as peer mentoring, House systems, vertical tutoring and prefect- led events will help spread the message positively in addition to the more formalised
Investing in our future musicians
Through sponsorship and involvement in forward thinking programmes for young organists, we help to provide access to music and musical development to schools and ecclesiastic communities. We feel it is important to give young musicians as many opportunities as possible to practice on good quality instruments – to fully embrace the wonder that is organ music. We’ve had the privilege of working with some distinguished music schools like the dedicated team at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama where weinstalled a beautiful new digital organ for their 608-seat Concert Hall. We were also pleased to be chosen as their preferred organ supplier as they are the UK’s leading provider of specialist music training at the under-18 level with nearly 2,500 students in Junior Guildhall and the Centre for Young Musicians. For the Yarm School in North East England we were delighted to install a Regent Classic instrument in the school’s stunning Princess Alexandra Auditorium. We tailored the organ according to the school’s requirements and custom-built the Regent Classic in a Cavaille-Coll style console, which they were pleased to have, as this is found in only a few schools in the UK. Built to the same standards as a conventional pipe organ, but occupying just a fraction of the space, the instrument has 69 speaking stops across four manuals, which allows the accompaniment of any choral or orchestral work. Practice instruments are also an issue for some schools, so we were pleased to be able to provide Kings College Cambridge with an Envoy 23-s, one of our most popular instruments which not only has our phenomenal built-in sound platform ‘Physis’, but is also priced perfectly for schools. For many establishments with fine pipe organs -finding time to play on them is a constant challenge. And for organ scholars this becomes a real issue in getting enough practise time in. Our digital church organs not only provide the extra practice time, but can also be used with headphones to help with odd practice times (and not disturb resident scholars). Discover how we can work with your school to enhance your practice instruments and encourage a new generation of musicians. Contact David Mason, Managing Director of Viscount Classical Organs today on 01869 247 333, or on enquiries@viscountorgans.net. We also have a very active Facebook page which you can find at www.facebook.com/viscountorgans
What’s new at Bett 2020?
The 36th edition of Bett takes place on 22-25 January 2020 at the ExCeL London – and with an expanded offer of show features and content, it is an unmissable date in the global EdTech event calendar! Find out more about this year’s edition below. A bigger, better Bett event Advancing education is what Bett is all about. We’ll once again be providing a platform to push the sectoral conversation further. Over 34,000 educators and leaders from the UK and overseas will be there, ready to engage with more than 800 EdTech suppliers, SMEs, and start-ups. What’s more, we’ve arranged a line-up of 300 of the most influential figures in teaching and learning today. An unrivalled guest speaker agenda The educators, leaders, and EdTech pioneers you need to hear from are coming exclusively to Bett UK this year. We pride ourselves on giving our visitors the chance to hear from those changing the way we think about education and technology – and that’s exactly what we’re offering in 2020. The first wave of speakers includes globally recognised figures and finest educational minds in Britain, including: Linda Liukas- Author of “Hello Ruby†and Tech Evangelist Professor Daniel Muijs – Head of Research, Ofsted Arjana Blazic– Teacher Trainer, Croatian Ministry of Education Dr Sue Black- Professor of Computer Science and Technology Evangelist, Durham University Jos Finer- Head of Organisational & Staff Development, University of St. Andrews Carol Allen- Education Advisor for ICT and Inclusion, Hartlepool LA Bart Verswijvel- Senior Advisor, European Schoolnet Partnership Stay tuned for more speaker updates when they become available. The Education Show at Bett For the first time in Bett’s history, we will be integrating the Education Show fully inside the event in the North Hall. Hundreds of suppliers will be there, showcasing the products essential for the health and wealth of educational institutions around the world. We’ll also be offering accredited CPD-led sessions, covering a wide range of topics on educators’ needs in the brand-new Education Show Theatre, for a complete picture of modern education. Six new inspirational content themes We have introduced six new themes to structure the conference programme, ensuring every learner and educator can benefit from this year’s content. They include: Innovation Wellbeing Empowering Teaching & Learning Inclusion, Social Mobility and SEND Future Tech and Trends Skills Our newly appointed Advisory Board, made up of the industry experts, has steered our content in the right direction and to make sure our finger is firmly on the pulse when assessing the latest developments in the education industry. “Bett provides a hub to connect together like-minded and engaged educators around technology,†says Advisory Board member, Jon Audin of the University of Winchester. “Once a year, everything that you need around the field of EdTech and its use can be found under one roof. With talks, teachers, students and companies sharing the latest practise and ideas it encourages the searching questions of whether this technology will make a difference to students we teach.†Expanding Bett’s CPD offer Teacher and leader development is essential to what Bett is all about. With this in mind, the event’s programme of educator-led sessions has been expanded. In 2020, you’ll find more CPD driven content than ever before. Visitors will benefit from a diverse range of peer-to-peer learnings, insights and expertise. We have also invested in fresh CPD-focussed features, including the launch of the Professional Development Theatres, offering free workshops to educators of all levels. Better navigation for a higher return on time We know. Bett is busy. Very busy. Getting a strong return on your time is vitally important. It will be easy to navigate around Bett 2020. The floorplan has been simplified, making it simple to find the solutions, products and partners you want to see, have better, productive conversations, and take back better technology and learnings to your schools. The show is now split into six different events zones each with a different focus: The Education Show Equipment & hardware Management solutions Teaching Tech Learning Tech Global Showcase Further networking opportunities at Bett Bett 2020 will have more networking opportunities onsite, with a Staff Room for educators to have space to discuss the content sessions they’ve experienced and reflect upon what’s inspired them. On top of this, we have the Connect@Bett networking app, which will enable visitors to set up meetings with relevant exhibitors and fellow educators to help them maximise their time. Join us at Bett UK 2020 Bett 2020 is now open for visitor registration. Join us at the latest instalment on 22-25 January 2020 at the London ExCeL. For more information, visit bettshow.com or contact us at uk@bettshow.com
Don’t let these 3 common school HR issues cause a problem
Whilst every school is different in their characteristics there are some common school HR issues they face. Here Natalie Spink, Employment Solicitor for Education Services for Your HR Lawyer, explains how schools can handle three of the most common problems. 1. The school needs to change the staffing structure for its Senior Leadership Team, how do we do this? It is highly likely that you will have a restructuring policy, so the first thing for you to do is have a read through this. The policy will set out the procedure to be followed when going through a restructure and will help ensure that employees are treated fairly and help reduce the risk of an employment tribunal claim, which may arise as a result of the process. One of the key things when going through a restructuring process is to plan: What is your current structure and what do you need it to look like moving forward? You should draft the proposed new staffing structure in conjunction with the Governing Body and whilst this is in draft form, consult on these proposals with any recognised Trade Union for the affected staff. As you are in budget deficit it is important that you cost out any possible redundancies before starting the process. An employee who has two years’ service or more is entitled to a redundancy payment, so this could have big implications for what you can and can’t do. You must ensure that any dismissal as a result of this process is fair, so before you go ahead please seek advice from your HR/legal advisors. 2. We have a Teacher who is underperforming, and he has been placed on an informal support plan, however, he has just been signed off as unfit to work by his doctor due to stress. We don’t know what to do? This is a common issue. As the teacher is now absent from work due to ill health, the informal procedure cannot continue until the employee returns to work and therefore this must be put on hold. As the employee is now off sick, this will need to be managed under your absence management process. The process will depend on how long the employee is absent for. In these types of situations, it is recommended that action is taken quickly, as this is sometimes (not always!) used as a way of avoiding going through the support process. By acting quickly, you are sending the message that this will not go away. Depending on the circumstances you may benefit from an occupational health report for the employee as that will give you all the information you need to decide how best to deal with this. Communication is key in these types of situations to help facilitate the employee back to work. Communication will demonstrate that the informal support plan is a supportive measure and you are trying to help the teacher succeed in their role. Where an employee is off with stress, it may be best to have any communication via the employees Trade Union representative (if they have one). Once the report is obtained (or where a report isn’t required) a meeting with the employee should be arranged to discuss its contents, how the employee is feeling and the concerns that they have. Hopefully, this will help alleviate their worries and they will feel well enough to come back to work. Our advice is don’t just leave them off sick and not take any action. A delay in addressing this will add to the employee’s stress, and will make it much harder for you to address later on. 3. We have a teacher who was awarded a TLR (Teaching and Learning Responsibility) by the previous Head Teacher but they don’t actually do anything for the TLR – we are not even sure why it was awarded! What can we do? A Teaching and Learning Responsibility is a payment given to a classroom teacher for undertaking a sustained additional responsibility for the purpose of ensuring the continued delivery of high-quality teaching and learning for which that teacher is made accountable. The School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) provides a mechanism for removing a TLR and this can be easily done provided the change is consulted on. This is a fairly straightforward process. The value of the TLR may need to be safeguarded for a period of three years in accordance with the STPCD, however, if the value of the safeguarded sum exceeds £500, you can allocate the teacher additional duties as is reasonable in the circumstances, proportionate to the safeguarded sum. These examples show that the answer to most HR problems is to act quickly and decisively and seek the right support. Investing resources into HR and employment issues when they first arise can save schools a significant amount of time money down the line.
Teachers need to be taught digital skills to make the most of classroom technology
Ash Merchant, Education Director at Fujitsu UK and Ireland, discusses how the digital skills gap among teachers is costing the UK economy… The UK is facing a growing digital skills shortage, which is now estimated to cost small businesses £145,000 next year, and to impact the UK economy to the tune of £141 billion in lost GDP growth. As the UK approaches further political and economic disruption, these figures could worsen if the skills gap isn’t addressed. With the rate of technology and digital innovation moving at an unprecedented pace, many people are feeling as though they’re struggling to keep up. And this goes double for those in the education sector, who are responsible for imparting that knowledge to the next generation. Consequently, it’s never been more important for them to be up to speed with emerging and new technologies, in order to best prepare the nation’s youth for the future of work in a modern and digital-first world. Digital skills begin in the classroom The next generation are digital natives. They have grown up in a connected world and have never experienced a life without computers or internet connectivity. What this means is that many students actually surpass their teachers when it comes to digital aptitude, and potentially leave teachers feeling unprepared to teach their students on such a crucial topic. Worse, if teachers themselves lack the right knowledge and skills, they won’t be able to adequately ensure students gain the skills necessary in the digital era. Although it goes without saying that teachers want the digital skills to properly educate, we found that over half feel it’s difficult to keep up with technological change. And this is being felt by more than just teachers; according to government statistics, 11.3 million adults in the UK lack the basic digital skills required to operate effectively in day to day life – from activities such as sending emails or completing an online form and a further 4.3 million are said to have no digital skills at all. Empowering the teacher It’s clear that teachers need support when it comes to keeping up with technology, so it’s crucial that the technology industry makes an effort to arm them with the skills required to educate the next generation before they enter the workforce. For example, at Fujitsu we have our Certificate of Digital Excellence (CoDE) programme. Understanding the need for the next generation to have the right skills when entering the industry, we created CoDE, a free, online learning experience for teachers, which helps educate them on topics such as Artificial Intelligence, IoT, cyber Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Big Data and Programming and Robotics. Each of these has been recognised as a technology or skill needed by the next generation to help with their future careers. By empowering teachers with this knowledge, they can promote the best range of skills to students, while also providing excellent levels of knowledge to ensure we are fostering a generation that is equipped to compete in a digital Britain. A collective responsibility Ultimately, if we want to prepare the next generation to lead the way with the UK as a global tech hub, we need to focus our attention on investing in upskilling the teachers. To achieve this, the education sector not only has a responsibility to ensure its teachers and students have the most up to date and relevant education, but it’s also important that the technology companies who are creating the jobs of the future play a role in transferring the necessary skills.
Ofsted finds parents ‘coerced’ into home education
According to a new Ofsted report, students are being pulled out of school to be educated at home with little notice. Parents are advised that students should not switch to home education simply to solve difficulties in schools. The report – based on a small study of families in the East Midlands area, found that students with special educational needs, medical needs and behavioural issues were all reasons why children had been moved from secondary school to being educated at home. Parents “commonly viewed home education as the only option for themâ€. Some parents had tried their children in other schools, but found these to also be unsuitable or unsuccessful. The report also found that some parents had also moved their child into home education despite not wanting to. The report warns that in some cases children can be moved to home education on very little notice – “the period between a parent finding out about the possibility of home education and their child leaving school can be as little as one dayâ€. It found schools and councils are “rarely†told about a child switching to home education before they leave school, with some schools only being notified this by a parent’s letter. The study also considered the issue of off-rolling, which is when students that are considered problematic or academically low-achieving are removed from school rolls. “Our research did find examples that support other evidence that parents have been coerced into moving to home education. “For example, one local authority had previously received letters from parents asking to move a child to home education that were written on school-headed paper but signed by parents.” “Where inspections identify pressure being applied to parents to game the system in the interests of the school, directly or indirectly, we will consider this to be off-rolling. “Unfortunately, our evidence suggests that letting children go can be an easy option for schools. Participants were aware that schools can also apply pressure to parents or children indirectly.”