Harrogate Grammar School is delighted to announce that it has become one of the first schools in England to be awarded official Computer Hub status by the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE), in order to provide support for primary and secondary computing teachers in schools in the area.
Harrogate Grammar School is one of the first 23 Computing Hubs across England and will be a focal point for local computing training for schools, and will also form links with industry and universities. The NCCE was set up in November 2018 by the Department for Education to increase the number of students in schools and colleges who study computer science at GCSE, AS and A level, particularly girls and those in disadvantaged areas, and to ensure that there is a strong pipeline of digital skills in England.
Commenting on the news, Dan Toms, NCCE Computing Hub Lead at Harrogate Grammar School, said:
We are delighted to be among the first wave of NCCE Computer Hubs. It is recognition of the high-quality standards we set in computing education at Harrogate Grammar School is and the results we achieve. We look forward to working as part of the NCCE network to help improve computing education in the North Yorkshire, Leeds and Wakefield area.
Chair of the NCCE Professor Simon Peyton Jones said:
It’s exciting to be announcing the first Hubs. They will be the local face of the National Centre, providing tailored support to all computing teachers (primary, secondary and colleges), to equip them to make the new computing curriculum into an inspirational reality in every classroom in the land.
Our partnership with teachers is vital to our mission. A single inspired, equipped, valued and supported teacher will influence tens or hundreds of children every day, and thousands over their career.
- The National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) was established in November 2018 with up to £84 million of Government funding and was supported by a further £1 million from Google to develop training for secondary school computing teachers.
- The Government’s decision to substantially invest in computer science in schools followed a Royal Society report, After the Reboot, which showed computing education across the UK was patchy and fragile. It called for action to be taken in a swift and coordinated way by government, industry, and non-profit organisations.
- The NCCE aims to increase the number of pupils in schools and colleges who study computer science at GCSE, AS and A level, particularly girls and in disadvantaged areas, and ensure that there is a strong pipeline of digital skills.
- The NCCE is funded by the Department for Education and is being delivered by a consortium of STEM Learning, Raspberry Pi Foundation and BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.
- STEM Learning is the UK’s largest provider of education and careers support in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). It has a mission to improve lives through world-leading STEM education. For more information, visit www.stem.org.uk
- The Raspberry Pi Foundation creates world class educational resources for computing and computer science used by millions of people each year, and has developed online courses that have supported tens of thousands of computing educators. For more information, visit www.raspberrypi.org
- BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT is the professional body for computing and, as part of its Royal Charter, sets and maintains academic and professional standards in computing. For more information, visit www.bcs.org
