Cas newsletter summer 2015

It is just over three years since the Raspberry Pi was launched Inspired partly

by the success of the BBC Micro in bringing computing to a mass audience the

aim was simple - to put an affordable computer into the hands of enthusiastic

youngsters Five million sales later itrsquos probably no exaggeration to say that the

Pi is driving a revolution Itrsquos not just that the Pi has begun to find a home in

classrooms as well as bedrooms nor the multitude of innovative uses to which

it is being put The real legacy lies in the proliferation of very cheap program-

mable devices that are now finding their way to market

Using lsquocontrol technologyrsquo in schools is not newmdashit was part of the IT curriculum

from its inception However circumstances conspired to push it off the curricu-

lum in many schools Now all that may be changing It is widely recognised

that physical computing is hugely motivational Hands

on challenges with a real world feel help bring

Computing to life Physical computing pro-

vides natural links with other curriculum are-

as in particular Science and Design and

Technology Many creative minds are now

engaged in producing a raft of devic-

es including the BBC and part-

ners Engaging contexts real

outputs and the immediate

feedback inherent in flashing

lights beeping buzzers and whir-

ring motors is the sort of stuff that stimu-

lates young brains Exciting times are ahead

ISSN 2050 -1277 (online) 2050 -1269 (print)

The ldquoComputing At Schoolrdquo group (CAS) is a membership association in partnership with BCS The Chartered Institute for IT

and supported by Microsoft Google and others It aims to support and promote the teaching of computing in UK schools

p3-7

Ideas to teach control

for primary teachers

by primary teachers

p8-13

Physical computing

ideas for secondary

teachers inquiry

based learning using

magic and more

p14-17

Developing re-

sources Hubs the

Network of Excel-

lence Building com-

munities of practice

p18-19

Getting to grips with

GCSE Making the

most of QuickStart

CPD materials

p20-22

Higher level apprentice-

ships industrial place-

ment schemes and find-

ing visiting speakers

p22-23

Female pioneers and

the fascinating ori-

gins of algorithms

BBC MicroBit prototype

The details of the plans announced

by the BBC to equip all Year 7 pupils

with a rsquoMicro Bitrsquo were just emerging

as this issue of SwitchedON was be-

ing prepared Teachers will obviously

be clamouring for more information

and will look to the latter stages of the

summer term as a time to think about

ways the initiative can support their

emerging Computing curriculum A

flurry of questions were raised on the

CAS forums and elsewhere

The BBC responded by launching a

blog at bbcin1CxXhx6 The first post

written by Cerys Griffiths Executive

Producer for BBC Learning emphasiz-

es two points Firstly the devices de-

signed to enthuse excite and empow-

er will be owned by children Second

that the distribution will be through

schools with a view to them being

used in lessons as well The logistics

are huge but Cerys writes ldquoWe also

realise how important it is for teachers

to get a chance to see and use the

Micro Bit in advance We are working

through the detail but we aim to en-

sure that IT teachers get their hands

on the device before the summer holi-

days We also want to give them the

opportunity to explore ways of using

the Micro Bits in lessons so there will

be some curriculum resources made

available at the same timerdquo

An initiative on this scale sends a very

important message to schools about

the importance of Computing Putting

the kit in the hands of the children will

help engage parents too Keep an eye

on the blog for more news as it emerg-

es and ensure your school leadership

is aware of the plans afoot

Joe Finney Senior Lecturer at Lancaster

University provides a heads up on plans

to give a million lsquoMicro Bitsrsquo to Year 7 pu-

pils next academic year

In a move that will no doubt bring a nostalgic smile to anyone of my genera-

tion the BBC recently announced the launch of the Micro Bit (a working

name that may change) a small lightweight computer designed solely for

one purposehellip to encourage children to become digital creators rather than

digital consumers Although initially conceived by the BBC the Micro Bit has

developed into a collaborative project bringing together industry including

the likes of ARM Barclays Microsoft Samsung and ScienceScope as well

as universities and charitable organizations with a single shared aim to cre-

ate one million of these devices by this autumn and deliver one free of

charge to every year 7 child in the country

Itrsquos difficult to avoid drawing parallels to the BBC Model B of the 1980s ndash a

device for which I personally have very fond memories Admittedly this may

in part be due to me holding the top score in my class at Chuckie Egg but

also because it provided my first taste of coding Drawing those geometric

patterns on the screen Writing guess-the-number puzzles for my sister to

play Creating my own simple computer games I was hooked Before I knew

it computing was my hobby my passion my specialist subject and my ca-

reer Now I look at my own kids and wonder ndash where do they start

The Micro Bit is still under development so confirmed details remain scarce

but it is being designed to be a standalone programmable device that is

small enough to wear It also aims to provide a programming environment to

suit a range of abilities It reduces the amount of technical setup and installa-

tion required from teachers or parents at home to the absolute minimum It

will contain an integrated LED matrix display and be extensible enough to

allow interfacing with other devices such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi

There will no doubt be teachers reading this short article who have perfectly

understandable concerns that this initiative might bring new challenges into

their classroom I know that producing a wide range of resources for teach-

ers well ahead of the autumn is a priority for the BBC and their partners so I

would say this fear the Micro Bit as much as you would fear Fuzzy Felt It

provides the material through which children can explore digital creativity

The very best computer scientists seamlessly blend creativity with computa-

tional thinking In 1967 Seymour Papert famously created the Logo language

with its ubiquitous robot lsquoturtlersquo that inspired children to write programs that

create geometric lines and shapes Yet forty five years later so many teach-

ing examples I still see create robots to follow lines not create them My fear

is that we create a generation of line followers not line creators

I for one am very proud to be part of the core team designing and develop-

ing this device and working alongside companies such as ARM Microsoft

Research and Samsung to develop something that blends technology and

creativity and bring that into the hands of the next generation As Arthur C

Clarke famously stated ndash ldquoAny sufficiently advanced technology is indistin-

guishable from magicrdquo So borrowing the immortal lines from Disneyrsquos Fro-

zenhellip Do you wanna build a snowman

SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 2

A lot of the computing coordinators I

talk to are not feeling confident

enough to be the mentor for others

that they feel they should be I was so

glad then that the CAS

Barefoot Computing materi-

als (barefootcasorguk)

were created I have shown

the website in a number of

schools and used some of

the videos and off-line activi-

ties with staff The explana-

tions of terminology lesson

ideas extensions and differentiation

were always well received Staff were

pleased because they had things they

could use in class with very little prep-

aration They could find out what

terms like algorithm and decomposi-

tion mean and quickly feel more confi-

dent This leads to productive discus-

sions and staff begin to see that a lot

of what they need does not have to

involve kit as such Limited kit can be

used more purposefully with time for

discussion planning and preparation

before children try things out for real

I was just getting used to the materials

when along came Quickstart Compu-

ting (primaryquickstartcomputingorg)

Quickstart Computing is a CPD pack-

age aimed at helping staff develop

their own knowledge and skills in rela-

tion to the computing curriculum It

draws upon materials produced previ-

ously such as Barefoot Computing

and Phil Bagges httpwwwcode-

itcouk website

and ties it all

together with

new material

The CPD

package is set

out in such a

way that if

you were the

computer

coordinator you could up-skill yourself

before using the materials to train your

other staff through short sessions tak-

ing place during staff meetings It in-

cludes videos skills audits

a useful glossary Power-

Points and suggested CPD

outlines The materials are

designed to be chopped

and changed to suit your

particular needs Hard copy

versions are distributed via

CAS Hubs but all materials

can be downloaded from the website

More details in the review on page 19

I originally left a copy of the complete

handbook in the staffroom to read

before delivering a session for staff

Im not sure how many people actually

picked it up so I printed a copy for all

staff as a reference as we worked

through our training In our first ses-

sion we only managed to get through

what an algorithm is there was lots of

discussion over what things meant

and how these linked to other sub-

jects Everyone left feeling more posi-

tive finding the handbook a useful

document Someone even asked me

when the next session would be

Do take the time to have staff com-

plete the skills audit prior to delivering

training Completing the audit gives

you an idea of where to focus your

sessions and then revisiting the audit

after the sessions later in the year

staff can see how far they have come

Another resource that I have found to

be of use is the BBCs Primary Com-

puting website There are lots of vide-

os and guides there to help both staff

and children Knowing how to get to

grips with the new computing curricu-

lum can be quite difficult so I hope you

find the materials as useful as I have

It is computing co-ordinators that other pri-

mary teachers turn to in their hour of need

Andrew Shields from Leicestershire flags

up resources to give them a quick start

3 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk

How time flies when

yoursquore teaching mark-

ing planning chasing

wi-fi installation oh

and having an Ofsted

inspection We now

have the technology ndash

well some of it and

more is on the way

Like many schools change has

not been as quick as we hoped

yet this helps focus our determina-

tion and enable us to make the

most of other opportunities Our

programming understanding is

developing and will continue to

use the amazing un-plugged re-

sources available The children

enjoy their practical nature and it

helps understanding of sequence

and consequently algorithms

Our learning platform lsquoFrogrsquo has

now been created and some of

the pupils and staff are piloting it

to become our Champions as we

roll it out to the rest of the school

community This cloud-based

technology will enable us reduce

our paper footprint and have more

integrated home school learning

It will also help us to meet some of

the IT elements of the new curric-

ulum requirements ndash storage ma-

nipulation and utilising digital con-

tent In conjunction we have invest-

ed in the some online resources

which will help less confident staff

with ideas and resources

Throughout all of this ndash I cannot

thank the great team at CAS who

have gently supported reminded

and cajoled me to organise CPD

sessions An email from Mark

and phone calls with Dave White

my regional coordinator have real-

ly helped me to stay focused on

the new computing curriculum and

ensure we donrsquot lose sight of what

we still need to do

The availability of low cost micro-

controllers can help cement the links be-

tween Computing and Design and Tech-

nology The iterative process of designing

and making lies at the heart of D amp T

Computational Thinking skills are often

best realised through designing imple-

menting and debugging a solution to a

known problem The new subject require-

ments for D amp T make reference to pro-

gramming monitoring and controlling prod-

ucts at KS2 The guidance becomes even

more explicit making specific reference to

the use of micro-controllers at KS3 Creat-

ing programs in order to control products

that pupils have designed and made them-

selves is a highly motivating tangible ex-

perience enabling them to test out and

develop their capability in computer sci-

ence within a range of real-life contexts

Last term col-

leagues from

CAS and the De-

sign and Technol-

ogy Association

(DATA) met to

discuss joint guid-

ance for teach-

ers drawing links

between the two

subjects with a

view to promoting cross curricular projects

The day was hosted by The Royal Acade-

my of Engineering

Alongside the discussions attendees ex-

plored the capabilities of an easy to use

programmable controller the Crumble

(bitly1IBOSOE) It can drive two high cur-

rent motors and has 4 low current IO con-

nectors to which a range of sensors

switches or LEDs can be attached Digital-

ly controlled full colour LEDs called Spar-

kles provided simple output with immediate

feedback The controller is programmed

via USB using a simple visual language

providing a low floor of entry with minimal

setup time allowing children to tinker and

experiment With other similar devices now

coming to market and a BBC Micro Bit

heading to all Year 7 pupils therersquos now a

real opportunity to start developing joint

projects Roger Davies

A makey-makey board may seem like a toy

but Ben Davies a CAS Master Teacher at St

Paulrsquos Primary School Manchester highlights

its wider educational potential

After letting my class play with a Makey-Makey board I soon realised it

had more educational value than it was letting on providing a great tool

for engagement and motivation My first use came while trying to extend

some high achievers when using Scratch The children were making

games with an Olympic theme (think Daley Thompsonrsquos Decathlon) and

creating a controller with the Makey-Makey was a suitable extension

The problem was it was an extension that everyone wanted to access

By the end of the unit I had bought four more and all of the class had

programmed a Scratch game controlled by the board

For the uninitiated a Makey-Makey board connects to a computer via a

USB lead Once connected certain computer inputs can be mimicked by

connecting the device to electrical conductors and completing the circuit

with an earth connection The unit that I now teach developed as a result

of our tinkering

We watch the Makey-Makey promotional video before giving several

boards out with the instruction to connect them Once pupils are able to

type something into a text editor we move on to playing games on Friv

The challenge is for children to find games that could be controlled by

the board and design a controller to play the game The next activity

combines elements of science and computing as children test a range of

materials to see if they act as electrical conductors The children create

Scratch programs that identify when an object completes an electrical

circuit By the end of these two sessions children have a sound under-

standing of how

the boards work

and how they

could be used as

input The next

step is designing

input based pro-

grams in Scratch

with the Makey-

Makey board in

mind

Their programs

range from maze games to two-player racing and keepie-uppie games

My favourite so far is an on-screen piano that was controlled by a play-

doh keyboard (an idea taken from the video) Three children worked

collaboratively to program a piano simulation The lure of being able to

play this piano gave them renewed resilience and ensured that they

stuck at it until completion Having used these boards for a few years I

am still surprised by the ideas that children come up with and the perse-

verance they show Long may this continue If youre looking to extend

children in their use of Scratch introducing a Makey-Makey board could

be just the challenge your class needs


In Scratch 20 there are

new blocks to sense the

video input from a

webcam and this can be

used as a simple control-

ler for a game ndash for ex-

ample trying to balance a

ball on your head How-

ever these blocks will

sense any movement

within the webcamrsquos view

and as such can be quite

limiting in what can be

controlled Whilst using it with my

students I recalled seeing a demon-

stration at the 2013 CAS conference

of the Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360

This sensor was used to recognise

multiple body joints and even two sep-

arate players ndash which would mean that

we could create more flexible pro-

grams

The Software Development Kit (SDK)

for the Kinect sensor has code exam-

ples in C C++ and Visual Basic but I

work in a special school and my stu-

dents struggle with text based lan-

guages I then remembered some

software called Kinect2Scratch devel-

oped by Stephen Howell It is availa-

ble at scratchsaorogcom (as are

links to the relevant software from

Microsoft to access the data from the

Kinect sensor) The Kinect2Scratch

website also has example scripts such

as a Space Invaders game where you

control your missile launcher by step-

ping left or right and fire missiles by

clapping your hands above your head

There is also a version of Pong for

one and two players (paddles con-

trolled by using your hands) and a

Hungry Ant Maths Game in which you

guide an ant using your right hand to

eat as many numbers as possible in

one minute After playing these

games studying the scripts and inves-

tigating the new sensing blocks that

Kinect2Scratch inserted I challenged

my KS4 students to design education-

al games for our Primary class This

gave them a focus and directed them

away from first person shooter games

Here are some examples of their de-

signs

ldquoNumber Bubblesrdquo - pop all of the

bubbles in the 2 times table as quickly

as possible

ldquoBall Catchrdquo - different balls fall from

the sky and you have to catch only the

red ones

A racing game ndash drive a car to col-

lect even numbers if you run over odd

numbers they slow you down

A penalty football game where you

take the kick and then use your hands

to curl the ball into the net

ldquoKeepy-Uppyrdquo football game ndash try to

keep the ball in the air for as long as

possible by using head and shoulders

The whole process was also extreme-

ly useful for the students to see how a

game might get developed They

found out that they had to revisit and

change their scripts as they went

along in response to user feedback It

was more difficult than they initially

thought but overall my students en-

joyed creating the games as did the

younger students when they came to

play them

Matthew Parry a CAS Master Teacher at Stanwick

School and Sports College Derbyshire outlines how

easy it is to get started developing games in Scratch

that use pupils body movement as the control


The introduction of Computing to

the National Curriculum may have

come as a surprise to many

teachers particularly those who

havenrsquot followed the debates in

CAS in the years before The new

orders spell out in a limited way

what should be covered by the

new subject but say little about

why To teach a subject well

knowing why wersquore teaching it is

important CAS has long made the

case for the broad educational

importance of Computing and the

need for all children to have some

exposure to the ideas of Comput-

er Science

Last year the

Chair of CAS

Simon Pey-

ton-Jones

was asked to

speak at a

local TED

conference in

Exeter In it

he makes a

compelling case for the primacy of

the discipline and the emergence

of a lsquofourth sciencersquo If you have

15 minutes spare let Simon con-

vince you about why the change is

so important See bitly1DSoYpY

for some very convincing reasons

why all pupils should engage with

creative Computer Science

CAS Chair Simon Peyton-Jones

The UK Schools Computer Anima-

tion Competition is now in its 8th year

involving large numbers of pupils

across the full age range Anima-

ton15 closed in March with 420

schools registered and over 800 en-

tries from 127 schools Prizes will be

awarded in May and Animation16

launches in September 2015 More

information at bitly1ABX2Uq

In spite of the inclusion of control technolo-

gy on the curriculum since the early 1980s

an Ofsted evaluation of ICT teaching in

English primary schools from 2008ndash11

repeatedly expressed concerns with re-

gard to the teaching of lsquocontrolrsquo Ofsted

reports suggest that it had at best been

patchy and in many schools non existent

Why if the subject is so engaging have

many UK schools been deficient in this

regard The following reasons have been

identified

A perception that the subject is conceptu-

ally hard

Logistical difficulties involved in setting up

and maintaining the hardware to teach

computer control

The cost of specialist resources hard-

ware and software and the requirement to

upgrade this at frequent intervals

The cyclical requirement to upgrade

brings a need to offer additional training to

keep teachers up to date

More recently particularly in primary

schools tablets with no means of connect-

ing control interfaces are replacing desktop

computers Schools that did make the sub-

stantial financial investment to resource

control in years gone by may have been

forced to upgrade their hardware and soft-

ware on more than one occasion as early

versions cease to be supported by new

operating systems or hardware This is the

tyranny of the upgrade cycle imposed on

schools by for-profit companies wishing to

sell the next version of their software or

hardware Raspberry Pi computers using a

gPiO offer a way out of this vicious circle

Using the Raspberry Pi as a lsquocontrolrsquo work-

station in primary school makes a lot of

sense Graham Hastings St Johnrsquos College

School in Cambridge puts a compelling case

When teaching young children to program context is king The context

must be both rooted in their personal experience and completely under-

standable Physical computing is an excellent way of providing an en-

gaging context that is meaningful to primary school children In addition

it gives children immediate feedback This motivates them to find and

correct bugs helping build determination and resilience When I first

heard about the Raspberry Pi it occurred to me that with Linux and soft-

ware such as Scratch and Python the device might represent a cheap

and sustainable platform for control technology

A bewildering array of lsquobreakout boardsrsquo have been rushed to market to

meet the opportunity presented by the new Computing curriculum Eager

to explore the potential of the Pi running Scratch as a control language

I began trials using many of these add-ons It quickly became obvious

that small pins jumper leads and breadboards do not work in a primary

classroom Young children simply lack the manual dexterity to manipu-

late the components Because my school was beginning to replace tradi-

tional PCs with tablets making my existing control interfaces redundant

I persevered with the Pi but with much frustration until I obtained a gPiO

interface (see picture)

The gPiO was designed for use in Key Stages 2 and 3 Extensive trials

have convinced me that there is a role for the Pi as a control work-

station I now have a class set left permanently connected to their gPiO

interface In KS2 the children have made rapid progress completing a

wide range of control projects programmed in Scratch and Python The

advantages of this Pi gPiO combination go a long way towards ad-

dressing the barriers previously noted The Pi gPiO is affordable a

complete control workstation including screen mouse and keyboard can

be purchased for under pound200 Many children and more importantly

teachers are already familiar with Scratch The ease with which pro-

grammers can move from Scratch to Python offers a clear progression

pathway and extension activities for the more able children

This is a sustainable solution ndash schools

will not be required to endlessly up-

grade their hardware and software

Moreover schools that already have a

range of legacy components connected

to 4mm plugs can use these with the

gPiO Cheap generic components can

also be used with it And the real beauty

of the Pi gPiO combination is that chil-

dren are able to create complete control

systems that consider human factors

and the needs of the user Please take

a look at the project on the page oppo-

site as an example


Computing attainment targets

Design write and debug programs

that accomplish specific goals in-

cluding controlling or simulating

physical systems solve problems by

decomposing them into smaller parts

use sequence selection and repeti-

tion in programs work with variables

and various forms of input and output

Project aims

The project links science (simple

circuits forces and friction) design

and technology (design and make a

moving model with a pulley) and

computing Using models children

have built for themselves as a con-

text for computer control immediately

engages them in the activity Their

desire to see their models brought to

life motivates children to complete

the control task with determination

and resilience The design brief asks

the children to consider safety as an

important aspect of the task They

should also aim to explore ways of

making their ride more enticing to the

public through considering the use of

lighting and music

Task

To build a rotating fairground ride

with motor and lights Program it with

a safe start button so that it will only

rotate when the button is pressed If

the button is released the ride must

immediately stop and an alarm sound

The ride must have flashing lights to

attract peoplersquos attention Add music

to your control program so that your

ride plays a tune as it turns Exten-

sion could program a range of rides -

perhaps slow and simple for young

children and faster with frequent

changes of direction for older people

Resources

A fairground model that rotates

Raspberry-Pi SD card with Scratch

GPIO and suitable music files in-

stalled gPiO interface push button

range of coloured LEDs geared mo-

tor (2001) 6v buzzer

Solution

Using a pulley wheel glued to the

motorrsquos stub axle and a rubber band

the motor is linked to the model The

motor is wired to motor output B on

the gPiO (pin11 ON will rotate the

motor forwards and pin12 ON will

rotate the motor in reverse) It is up

to the children to decide the number

of changes in direction and how long

the ride should last A push button is

attached to the model and wired to

input 7 as the start and safety button

which should act as a lsquodead manrsquos

handlersquo if the button is released the

ride stops and a buzzer sounds

Three coloured LEDs are attached to

the model and wired to outputs 15

16 and 18 Children can decide the

sequence and the music they want


For those who are accustomed to

Windows PCs the Pi represents a

steep learning curve However

there is plenty of good advice on

how to setup an SD card and in-

stall Scratch GPIO (see links be-

low) If you then make a copy of

the complete image you can clone

it to your remaining cards via a PC

using a free utility Alternatively

purchase cards with the NOOBS

software already installed from the

Raspberry Pi Foundation

Class management needs some

planning I have children working

in pairs each with a numbered SD

card Once they learn how to con-

nect the cables it takes about five

minutes to wire up and start their

Pi Their first task is to create a

directory to save their project files

There is no need to network the

workstations It takes about three

minutes to pack away at the end

of a session The setup time could

be avoided if you can leave them

permanently set up Keyboards

with a built in USB port for the

mouse leave one port on the Pi

free for a memory stick so children

can save their programs and hand

in for marking

Despite teething troubles children

can now manage the setup with

confidence learning the skills of

fault finding and correcting prob-

lems as they arise

Raspberry Pi SD card NOOBS setup

instructions bitly1BAvQnc

Scratch GPIO installation

bitly1CURy9T

gPiO interface wwwgpiocouk

How to clone SD cards

bitly1GxvK5q Camera Trap Project - short video of

a Pi gPiO Python project for Year

67 bitly1HZD8ER

A frequently asked question is what can a Pi do that cannot be done on a desk-

top computer The niche for the Pi as I see it stems from the fact that Scratch

and Python can be used as languages to program physical systems This brings

the scope to not only program simple feedback control routines but also the

ability to create complete solutions to control problems This has been difficult to

do with languages written specifically for control technology Add to this the like-

lihood that desktop computers will all but disappear from primary schools in the

next five years and that the Pi gPiO Scratch combination is a much cheaper

alternative then it becomes a very attractive proposition

Last June I was lucky enough to be

part of the second cohort of Picademy

lsquograduatesrsquo or Pi Certified Educators

(PCEs) For two very intense days we

learned about ways to use the Raspberry

Pi in our teaching and it was pretty cool

stuff too (See article right) On returning to

work we looked for inspired ways to har-

ness the Pi With Sports Day looming it

seemed an ideal opportunity to try out the

Picamera First we had to address the is-

sue of getting them out onto the field and

where to set them up We decided to put

one Pi on the finishing line for the relay

races and one Pi on the top bend into the

home straight

We borrowed some high-jump

posts from the PE department

and my colleague provided a cou-

ple of portable battery chargers to

power the computers As we donrsquot

(yet) have a cute 28 inch TFT

screen for the Pi I persuaded a

couple of Year 9 pupils to carry

out a monitor so that we could set

them up They were very patient

as we strapped each Pi and power source

to the high-jump posts and tested them

One of my very talented Year 10 pupils

had created a script for the camera that

would begin running as soon as the Pi was

turned on This saved us having to mess

around too much with typing in commands

and meant that we could just start up each

Pi and check via the screen that images

were being captured then leave it running

Lots of pupils and visiting parents were

curious about the strange gadgets ndash it cer-

tainly made an interesting talking point and

gave an opportunity to highlight our use of

the Pi and Computing in school

It was fun checking our photos at the end

We discovered the majority of races had

finished in the 29 seconds between shots

We did manage to capture a couple of rac-

es though so all was not lost We now

need to add a TFT screen plus a motion

sensor to our shopping list You can see

the edited highlights of the captured imag-

es in Sports Day in 30 Seconds here

youtubeqm14Daiaveo Sue Gray

The word is out about the Picademy

training courses Kim Sayers from

Landau Forte College Derby gives an

insight into whatrsquos involved

Good CPD is often hard to come by and expensive unless that CPD is

run by the Raspberry Pi Foundation Last June I was part of Picademy 2

held at Raspberry Pi Towers in Cambridge and run by the award win-

ning secondary Computing amp ICT Teacher author and Education Pio-

neer at the Raspberry Pi Foundation Carrie Anne Philbin Picademy is a

two day training course that doesnt sleep and best of all Raspberry Pi

are offering this training to teachers across the country for free

Day 1 sees everyone excitedly meeting up before completing a series of

workshops designed to inspire whilst quickly demonstrating how con-

cepts could be taught within the classroom We had some people form-

ing electric circuits for one demonstration whilst others made music by

being notes and

sounds in another When

I was on the course we

did some Python coding

in Minecraft used a Pi

camera for stop frame

animation made music

with the amazing Sonic

Pi and so much more all

using kit included in the

best swag bag ever

Official training finished around 5pm when the whole group including

Raspberry Pi staff and trainers continued with the discussions over din-

ner (again provided for free) Napkins became notepads whilst ideas

were scribbled down and the creative juices flowed freely Later that

night I struggled to sleep as my head was so full of exciting things to try

out and ask the next day

This is where Picademy stands out from other CPD courses - Day 2 is

all about taking the knowledge from Day 1 and the spark from the even-

ing and mixing it up Those ideas started to take shape and become re-

ality as we started to put into practice the skills from the first day I

worked with three others including Dan Arnold to create a glove that

controlled a character in the GPIO Scratch application Dan has since

taken this idea further and was recently in Linux User magazine showing

off the completed glove

One of the great things about Picademy is that it does not stop after the

two days Everyone shares contact details meaning a constant stream of

ideas through social media continues after the event This contact also

means that a readily available support network seamlessly forms keen to

help spread the Raspberry Pi love The two days round off with the offi-

cial cohort picture and the official presentation of our Raspberry Pi Certi-

fied Educator badges given to us by Eben Upton himself This badge is

worn with pride by all who have it and I often find others trying to steal it


Clifford French a CAS Master Teacher at

Camden CLC sings the praises of a self con-

tained programmable board designed at

UCL to introduce physical computing

What do traffic lights a mobile phone

and a bank cash machine have in

common An obvious answer is that

we depend on these in our everyday

lives A more technical answer might

be that they all run programs that use

iteration ndash looping through the same

steps every minute of every hour of

every day Iteration is one of those

essential concepts in computer sci-

ence that many students find difficult

to understand Thatrsquos where physical

computing can come into its own

helping students to see the concept in

action and moving it off the screen or

the printed page

In my work in schools and at Camden

City Learning Centre I have found that

the Engduino a small self-contained

programmable board with LEDs and a

range of sensors never fails to en-

gage students across a wide age

range and in doing so helps nurture

an understanding of a wide range of

CS concepts

Originally developed as a simple com-

puter science teaching tool at UCL

(University College London) the Eng-

duino is now in its third incarnation

with 16 LEDs a thermistor a light

sensor an accelerometer a magne-

tometer an IR transceiver a button

and micro SD card storage all in a

compact Arduino based board that

connects to a computer (Windows

Mac or Linux) via USB and requires

no additional peripherals

I believe that it is really important to

relate learning in CS to our everyday

lives and my personal preference is to

start with the Engduino as an example

of a ldquowearablerdquo Students can program

it to flash its lights to reflect or alter

their moods or feelings and if they

wish wear it Helpfully it comes with a

small battery to make it portable and a

hole for a lanyard

Students readily relate to situations

where temperature is important for

example looking after a young child

or someone who is ill these provide

scope for exploring the thermistor and

while loops GCSE Science students

can use the device to plot cooling

curves importing data into a spread-

sheet either directly from the console

or via an SD card

The Engduino is for sale at pound4650

with a range of free learning resources

covering variables arrays for and

while loops Appreciating that schools

may find a class set of 16 (one be-

tween two plus a device for the teach-

er) to be a considerable investment

particularly for an unfamiliar resource

UCL has a limited num-

ber of Engduino class

sets available for leas-

ing for a notional fee on

a full or half-term basis

as part of a UK-wide

pilot scheme Technical

support and learning

materials are provided

If you are interested

feel free to get in touch

sooner rather than later

as supplies are limited


Since the report in the last issue

of SwitchedOn Oxford Universi-

tyrsquos Turtle System has acquired

another language a ldquobarebonesrdquo

version of BBC BASIC so that

programs in Turtle BASIC Turtle

Java and Turtle Pascal can now

all be seen and run online at

httpwwwturtleoxacukturtlejs

The project has produced a portable

compiler that can run on Mac and

Linux machines (and Windows) to

generate code ndash from BASIC Ja-

va or Pascal ndash that can be run on

the same online system Work is

now underway on a Python com-

piler which in due course will be

integrated with all these new facili-

ties within a comprehensive down-

loadable and online system

With the addition of these new

languages as well as further facil-

ities (including those for reading

and writing files) we are actively

seeking more volunteers to con-

tribute lesson plans and related

resources ldquoGetting startedrdquo les-

sons in BASIC would be particu-

larly welcome as would more ad-

vanced lessons ndash in any of the

languages ndash that take pupils be-

yond the introductory stages (eg

through further work on algo-

rithms graphics or cryptography)

We can offer up to pound100 per les-

son for suitable material If you

are interested please email pe-

termillicanhertfordoxacuk

Competitions abound just now inspiring

children to create with code and giving

opportunities for stretching challenging

and supporting Some are local events

while others are national or global many

give a chance to interact with others with

different skills helping broaden the oppor-

tunities available to children and taking

the pressure off teachers who simply can-

not become Jedi Masters in every lan-

guage and paradigm

Young Rewired State runs hack events for

under 18s culminating in a Festival of

Code at the end of July each year Teams

meet in local centres for four days of ideas

design coding and testing solutions using

open source data At the weekend teams

meet at a central location for the finals ndash

three days of code pizza and presenta-

tion Itrsquos a hugely exciting event for stu-

dents and is largely free so accessible to

all Regular Hyperlocal events run in some

centres keeping the festival spirit going all

year round

First Lego League is a global competition

with more than 250000 children from 9 to

16 taking part Using Lego Mindstorms

robots the competition is based on chal-

lenges that encourage the children to solve

problems from a scientificengineering per-

spective Registration opens in May 2015

with tournaments running from November

to January with UK finals in February

Google CodeJam targets older students

ages 13 and up may compete but they

must be 18 to enter the final round A

qualification round is followed by further

online rounds based on solving given

problem sets within a specified time

BAFTArsquos YGD offers Game Making and

Game Concept competitions in 10-14 and

15-18 categories giving children who like

to draw and coders a chance to get in-

volved This is great for those who love

games and gives them an insight into the

industry And there are many more online

and in local centres for different ages and

different skills Have a look at the links on

the CAS Community (resource43) for

more great ideas Lyndsay Hope

Managing multiple Raspberry Pi computers in

a classroom can be a headache Sixth form

student Liam Nicholson from Kirkby Kendal

School in Cumbria suggests a novel solution

As soon as we started using Raspberry Pirsquos whenever we wanted to

install a new program or an SD card became corrupted we were spend-

ing a considerable amount of time imaging cards After searching for a

solution we discovered Raspi-LTSP an implementation of the LTSP

protocol specifically made for Raspberry Pi (Now called PiNet see the

box below for further details) Our

computing lab is the kind that most

people would want in their school

Itrsquos full of bits of old computers that

we reuse to make our own ma-

chines so we quickly got to work building our own server for the Pis

installing Raspi-LTSP and making it compatible with school systems

After creating a working prototype I was asked to roll the system out

school-wide on a permanent basis Extra ethernet ports were installed

over the summer to facilitate this and we were given a Virtualised Serv-

er This allowed us to gain insight into network administration whilst

keeping a secured environment We could make mistakes as the server

could be easily reinstalled When we arrived back in September our

Model B+ Raspberry Pis had arrived We set to work installing the soft-

ware on our new server including Epoptes (epoptesorg) for classroom

management allowing us to restart and shutdown the Pis remotely

Students can now learn how to interact with the Linux shell program in

Python and interface using the Raspberry Pirsquos GPIO ports without hav-

ing to wait up to 30 minutes to image an SD card You just turn on the Pi

and yoursquore live within 1ndash2 minutes Itrsquos easier for teachers to manage as

they now have a dedicated interface for adding user accounts and all

usersrsquo files are stored on the server

The school now has a club to learn how to code in Python using the

Raspberry Pis and the shared files function available using Raspi-LTSP

helps teachers share code samples with students But the best bit about

the network is that it is completely managed by Sixth Form students like

myself We manage the updates add new features and programs and

deal with any problems should they arise although nothing serious has

yet When the Year 13s leave in June theyrsquoll hand over to the Year 12s

who will manage it for the next year Wersquove just started adding our own

customizations to the Raspi-LTSP code allowing us to

change things like the desktop background and to allow

a deeper integration with our schoolrsquos network Wersquore also

looking forward to adding some more features such as a

GUI for teachers so they donrsquot need to SSH into the

server to add a user or install a program


PiNet has been developed by CAS member Andrew Mul-

holland (Queenrsquos University) He blogs at pigbamaninfo

All essential links to the PiNet project can be found on his

CAS Community post at topics4251

In a new subject there is inevitably a

lack of tuned-in pedagogical expertise

Established approaches from Mathe-

matics and Science can be adapted to

benefit learning in Computer Science

Wersquoll look at how Geometry becomes

ldquoaction geometryrdquo from a computing

perspective when investigating how a

spriteturtle traces the outline of a sim-

ple regular shape revealing through

pattern and symmetry of movement

the properties of the structures We

then use scientific enquiry-based

learning to unlock these properties

The following investigation of angles

and spin lends itself to introducing

computational thinking in different

ways and at different levels Irsquod sug-

gest the teacher uses an enquiry-

based approach to encourage and

support computational thinking by

appealing to patterns symmetry and

lsquoaction geometryrsquo in the first instance

and to principles of decomposition and

generalising to complete the task

Try to devise a set of questions to

help your class discover how to calcu-

late angles x and y in the square

below (y is the turning angle for the

spriteturtle) We are less interested in

the values rather how to derive them

It should be possible to use exactly

the same questions but to substitute

the words lsquoregular pentagonrsquo wherever

you see the word lsquosquarersquo in your

questions and 5 sides instead of 4

The questions should lead the class to

discover how to calculate the angles

x and y when applied to the pentagon

There are several example questions

ndash they are not the answer - in the box

below to help you make a start

Dave White CAS Regional Co-ordinator for Essex

and Hertfordshire illustrates how pedagogy devel-

oped in Mathematics and Science can be used to

develop Computational Thinking


What is special about the number 360

What does symmetry mean for a square

Why is ldquoThe lengths of the 4 sides must be equalrdquo not

enough to define a shape as a square

Why is ldquoThe internal angles at the 4 vertices of the 4

sided figure must be equalrdquo not enough to define a shape

as a square

What conditions do you have to insist on to make sure

a 4-sided figure is a square

Hint If you turn round completely how many degrees

have you turned through We will call this a SPIN(360)

What are the other angles at the centre of the square

Hint In the diagram start at O follow the arrow to A

turn through y go to B and continue until you return to O

and face the original direction What angle did you turn

through at B

How many angles did you turn through in total to face

the same way as you started

For a square we may have known

the values of the angles x and y In

other polygons however pupils may

be less familiar hence the im-

portance of how we work out the

values of x and y with the square

With that we then have a possible

basis for generalising to approach to

the pentagon

Using exactly the same questions

you can try to generalise the process

by substituting the words lsquoregular

pentagonrsquo for the word lsquosquarersquo

Taking it further how would you gen-

eralise to work out the process to

find the answer for angles x y in

other regular polygons Try

a 6-sided hexagon

a 7-sided heptagon

Why is the process more significant

for the heptagon

Finally how would you work out the

turning angle y in a 5-sided star

(pentagram --- a self-intersecting

pentagon shown above) Hint Watch

how much the turtle spins in tracing

out the pentagram

Paul Curzon and fellow

computer scientist Pete

McOwan have now

produced three compi-

lations of magic tricks

for cs4fn The books

are collections of

easy to do magic

tricks (mainly simple

card tricks) The

twist is that every

trick comes with a

link to some computer

science too As you

learn the tricks you

will learn something

about what computer

scientists get up to

too Each book

contains more

about the talented

magicians past and

present who created

both mathematical

self working and

slight of hand tech-

niques All three are

available to down-

load free from

cs4fnorgmagic

Sitting at a computer is not always the best way to learn

about computing Paul Curzon editor of cs4fn argues an

unplugged approach gives a solid way to teach concepts

that is both fun and supports a deep understanding

The Queen Mary University of London cs4fn team have developed a

way of using magic tricks to illustrate computational concepts The key

ideas are that

Both magic and programs are a combination of an algorithm and a

presentation

Both must be right for the trick or software to work well

In essence a magic trick is just an algorithm and magicians need the

same understanding of human psychology if their tricks are to work as

programmers need if their programs are to be easy to use

When you teach computing you are teaching the skills to be a good ma-

gician too computational thinking For over 10 years we have been giv-

ing magic shows in schools and at science festivals around the UK that

have inspired students about computing We do a magic trick challenge

the audience to work out how it is done then explain how it works so

they can do it too In doing so we also explain the linked computer sci-

ence We have tricks to introduce for example algorithms variables

assignment and loops search algorithms and the importance and limita-

tions of testing Magic can illuminate computational thinking topics such

as algorithmic thinking logical thinking decomposition abstraction gen-

eralisation human-computer interaction and much more

We have previously produced two free magic books for schools We

have now produced a third book that focuses on computational thinking

in an interdisciplinary context (see sidebar) Copies are being sent to all

UK schools that subscribe to cs4fnrsquos free resources (made possible in

conjunction with Hertford College University of Oxford by funding from

the Department for Education Google and the EPSRC funded

CHI+MED research project on safer medical device design)

With support from the Mayor

of London and Google we

also have been giving un-

plugged workshops for teach-

ers on computational thinking

that includes magic tricks (see

teachinglondoncomputingorg

free-workshops) Their aim is

to give teachers a deeper un-

derstanding of computational

thinking and other syllabus topics as well as practical fun ways to teach

the subject In addition to writing the magic books we are now writing

these tricks up as activity sheets describing both the tricks and computa-

tional thinking or computing concepts behind them with linked resources

like slides to download These are all available from cs4fnrsquos sister project

that is specifically to support computing teachers lsquoTeaching London

Computingrsquo (see teachinglondoncomputingorgresourcesmagic-and-

computational-thinking) Programmers really are wizards


Take 15 cards from a shuffled pack

Have a volunteer put their hands with

fingers and thumbs touching the table

as though playing the piano Explain

that everyone must chant the magic

words ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Take

two cards and as everyone says ldquoTwo

cards make a pairrdquo place them togeth-

er between a pair of fingers Keep

doing this until you have one card left

Place it between the final fingers say-

ing there is ldquoone left overrdquo Now take

the first pair back again all chanting

ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Place them

face down on the table to start two

piles Do this with each pair saying

the magic words and adding one card

neatly to each pile Eventually only

the last single card is left Take this

saying ldquoWe have one extra cardrdquo Let

them place it on top of one of the

piles Square up the piles pointing out

ldquoSo that pile now has the extra cardrdquo

Explain that you are going to do

lsquoInvisible Palmingrsquo The extra card is

on one pile You are going to invisibly

move it to the other Place your hand

over the pile with the extra card Rub

the back of your hand to ldquomake the

card go invisiblerdquo Lift your palm show-

ing that the card you are pretending to

move is invisible Move your hand to

the other pile Tap it ldquoto make the

card droprdquo Announce that the card

has now moved piles

To show the magic worked take the

pile where the extra card was placed

and count off pairs into a new single

face down pile ndash ldquoTwo cards make a

pair Two cards make a pairhelliprdquo This

pile must be neat so no one counts

the cards You find there are only

pairs ndash the extra card has disap-

peared So where has it gone Take

the other pile and do the same putting

pairs back into a pile Amazingly the

extra card is there Exclaim that the

extra card really has moved from one

pile to the other

Now tell the volunteer that they can do

the trick Put your hands out in the

piano position and talk them through

the steps shown To their surprise

they will manage to move the card

even though they donrsquot know how

See the box right for an explanation of

how the trick works The book goes on

to show the links to computation that

can be drawn out of the activity

Here is a very simple cs4fn trick that anyone can do to give you a

taster We have found it is a great way to introduce what an algo-

rithm is thatrsquos a bit more exciting than boiling the kettle or mak-

ing toast


Magicians call this a self-working

trick It always works if you follow

the steps It appears magical be-

cause you have confused every-

one They believe when they add

the last card to a pile they are

adding an extra odd card You are

actually making up the last pair ndash

making an odd pile even There

are 15 cards After dealing out the

pairs there are 7 cards in both

piles The last card makes its pile

up to 8 cards ndash 4 pairs When you

count out the pairs there will be

only pairs there so no lsquoextrarsquo card

The other pile will be left with 7

cards 3 pairs with one left over

You pretend it has magically

moved without doing anything

Nothing has to move

What does this have to do with

computing Well Computer scien-

tists call self-working tricks algo-

rithms An algorithm like a self-

working trick is a series of instruc-

tions that if followed exactly and in

the right order lead to a guaran-

teed effect The instructions have

to be precise and cover all eventu-

alities For example this trick has

to work however the cards are

shuffled and wherever the extra

card is placed

When a volunteer follows the

steps the magic still happens

even though they have no idea

how it works That is exactly what

we need for computers When we

write programs we are creating

algorithms for a computer to follow

blindly as a computer understands

nothing All it can do is follow the

steps in the program

For more computational thinking

lessons from this trick see the

relevant pages of the book itself

(illustrated) or download the linked

activity sheet from the Teach Lon-

don Computing website

For those new to our Community a CAS

hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-

porters who wish to share their ideas for

developing Computing in their schools It is

a meeting of like-minded professionals

with the general objective of supporting

each other and the specific aim of provid-

ing (at least) one idea each meeting that

can be taken and tried in the classroom

Meetings are open to all and your local

CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or

involvement whether you are a practising

teacher an IT professional who would like

to help an academic from the nearby Uni-

versity or a parent of school age children

We have around 150 hubs and you can

find your nearest one using the Hub map

at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of

Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21

of these being Primary Hubs)

We are actively looking for more Hubs es-

pecially in areas where we have gaps in

provision We would also like to see the

number of Primary Hubs increase as there

is definitely a need for the support that

they can provide If you would like to find

out more about starting a CAS Hub

(primary or secondary) please get in touch

with either Claire Davenport or myself

Yvonne Walker We are here to support

you and work with you to ensure the Hub

is a success Our contact details can be

found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog

( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-

sources and support for new Hub leaders

It enables us to be responsive to the needs

of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we

can keep information up to date

Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of

Excellence are now being finalised National

Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the

journey so far and flags up a new stage

The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-

lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end

in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools

(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-

work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-

ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to

communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly

during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been

willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-

mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and

support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one

There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness

to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-

vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-

plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation

makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-

osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we

have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts

have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions

allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead

Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge

well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true

to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-

lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a

number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its

an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of

the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-

gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher

scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between

Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the

trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way

forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-

munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue


Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However

Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to

work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-

ty to pool expertise within the group

I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The

teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same

problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing

How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different

unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-

ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best

Yvonne Walker

Working in Initial Teacher Education

gives me the opportunity to engage

(and sometimes build) communities of

practice and itrsquos really interesting to

see how they work and how they inter-

act with each other too These arenrsquot

static groups they form and merge

and change ndash our community of train-

ee teachers becomes absorbed within

our established teacher network

(which is lovely to see) From our es-

tablished teacher partners we have a

strong community of CAS enthusiasts

Master Teachers and Hub Leaders

Therersquos much overlap between groups

too ndash so our CAS community contains

a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-

siasts ndash and in turn that community

draws in many members of the public

including groups from schools Over

the years Irsquove developed rules of

thumb for nurturing and working with

these communities most recently in

building computing capacity and

knowledge in schools through the

CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what

Irsquove learned to date

Personally attending and contributing

to events matters whether that be

Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs

or school meetings Support your

community and spread the word in a

polite but fairly relentless manner

Use these opportunities to make links

based on individual strengths and

interests Volunteer them for things in

the nicest possible way and always

with their consent For example linking

up a school cluster (who were just

getting started with computing) to their

Master Teacher has had a big impact

in how they use their CPD time Find-

ing space and time to allow members

to talk to each other makes it more

productive and is the essence of a

ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a

common time for a coffee In the inter-

im use online tools to stay in touch

Many of our Master Teachers use

Twitter to support each other

If therersquos a need for a community that

doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-

ate one CAS hubs are a case in point

here ndash they are an essential glue that

holds all of CAS together My experi-

ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-

es (with a little encouragement) who

just needs some support to get things

moving ndash facilitate this and you have

something really special If you are

thinking of being a hub leader then

donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or

Claire (see opposite page)

Be a facilitator support your commu-

nity by unblocking administrative or

systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone

who is good at that within your com-

munity and ask them for help Find

opportunities to celebrate success too

by inviting members to events and

give them a chance to raise their pro-

file for example via school cluster

meetings university events articles in

SwitchedON or a presentation at the

CAS conference Also be nice to sen-

ior leadership teams ndash show them

what their expert community members

are doing and how this helps them

This gives community members the

kudos and recognition they deserve

and may help make a case for further

engagement in their community

Building a community of practice is not

easy It requires sustained effort ndash but

extends the impact one individual can

have The sense of reward when you

see people working together to build

something special as a result of your

influence is enormous It is the only

way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-

date the steps already taken to intro-

duce Computing in schools

Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-

ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what

a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and

offers suggestions for ways to build them


Google announced three funding

grants as part of a package that

launched the path breaking Digital

Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-

age is the first in a series of pop-

up training venues across the UK

designed to provide small and

medium enterprises with help

digital skills training and advice

about harnessing the internet to

their business needs

Alongside this wersquore delighted that

Google have given a grant to CAS

to enable us to develop a suite of

Master Teacher training materials

and a series of webcasts aimed at

providing insights into Computing

pedagogy and departmental man-

agement Details are being

worked out at present and wersquoll

announce more detail on the

Community very shortly

As well as further generous sup-

port for CAS projects Google also

announced funding for the Rasp-

berry Pi Foundation and Code

Club Pro to further their work in

training teachers in Computer Sci-

ence As well as school based

events workshops for teachers

will be able to utilise the Digital

Garage spaces Google also aim

to develop further online training

resources The funding builds on

the commitment last year to do-

nate Raspberry Pis for use in

classrooms

The BCS Certificate in Computer

Science Teaching allows you to

demonstrate your efforts to upskill

develop materials and reflect on your

practice A one year roll on roll off

accreditation with mentor support

Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1

As the CAS Community and Net-

work of Excellence continue to

grow Catriona Lambeth has been

quietly developing ways to use the

Community to support local or-

ganization When you log-on to

the CAS Community yoursquoll no

doubt be aware of the links to Re-

sources Discussions and Event

listings If you are a teacher have

you ever looked at the Network Of

Excellence link next to them If

not take a look now It should

display the details we have of

your school If not please update

your profile and register your

school with the Network of Excel-

lence If registered ask your

school contact to add you if you

donrsquot see the details These may

seem bureaucratic tasks but they

are the bedrock on which effective

messaging can be built in the fu-

ture Once we have your school

details and you are linked to the

school we can provide information

about others in your locality

You can use this area to identify

your local hubs find other regis-

tered lead schools in the area

local Master Teachers and their

contact details These can be very

useful if you are organizing events

and want to ensure you have pub-

licized it widely

What else you will see will depend

on your role If you are a Master

Teacher we are developing this

area as the point for receiving

guidance documents adding the

Events you organize and keeping

your records of activity up to date

This is a work in progress We

want to develop the functionality

further so please share ideas

about what would be useful on the

forum

In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo

was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-

ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the

success of CAS Resources

Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help

improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)

Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-

ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo

counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to

teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides

a useful personal bookmarking function

Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful

(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-

gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work

See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources

Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title

Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community

Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated

screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green

and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you

will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised

categories is provided on the page opposite

Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-

yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are

created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace

an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-

gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to

expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-

ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-

sions

Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the

pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-

source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste

from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name

== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom

from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then

we donrsquot know what is

Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about

resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see

MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla

Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks

Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or

created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS

Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet

workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating

a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-

tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource

but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print

Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions


When classifying resources we wish

to further develop this standard ap-

proach There are three important

dimensions by which you can classify

resources (see right)

Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type

You should consider assigning a cate-

gory from each of these dimensions to

your resource (eg Algorithms for

Subject Knowledge) That said some-

times more than one category from a

given dimension is appropriate (and

sometimes none are) Each is de-

scribed in more detail below

Subject Knowledge The categories

are now fully aligned with the Progres-

sion Pathways Grid and also bracket

the full scope of the new curriculum

with the addition of Information Tech-

nology and Digital Literacy

Age Range If the suitability of the

resource spans multiple age ranges

(or you are uncertain about the pre-

cise suitability) then select two or

more categories

Resource Type This describes oth-

er characteristics of your resource

which may include one or more of

intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo

and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)

a resource collection rather than a

resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)

extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and

Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings

work placements etc)

cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)

gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-

terialrdquo)

assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)

ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo

not part of the curriculum per se but

many generic tools are of interest both

to teachers and students depending

on the context

There are three additional dimensions

English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform

Use the categories under these di-

mensions to provide still richer

metadata about any resource For

more about the rationale behind the

classification see the box below

TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-

brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with

those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-

poor teacher find the good resources faster


Considerable thought has

gone into this classifica-

tion If you are struggling

to categorise a resource

further exemplification can

be found in the TASK

statements explained in

resource3162 Look for

which ldquoAbridged State-

mentrdquo comes closest to

characterising the re-

source The TASK refer-

ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject

Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-

ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include

Information Technology and Digital Literacy

Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach

teacher training modules has been formal-

ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills

For Industry Technocamps is a schools

outreach programme established by the

Computer Science Department in

Swansea University It now has hubs in six

further University Computer Science De-

partments across Wales at Aberystwyth

Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-

ropolitan Universities and at the University

of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs

have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash

each typically 20 hours long delivered one

evening per week over six weeks ndash up-

skilling a total of 256 teachers from both

primary and secondary schools

Technocamps is ideally placed to help

bring about real change in Wales Profes-

sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report

ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-

ary) calls for computing and digital literacy

to be considered as important as literacy

and numeracy one key recommendation

recognises a need to build teacher confi-

dence and capacity in computer science

At the time of writing two further reports

are due in March Professor John Fur-

longrsquos Report into initial teacher training

will likely reflect on the readiness for

change of ICT teachers in Wales given

that the General Teaching Council of

Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-

cation in IT let alone Computing The

Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the

Education Workforce is expected to devel-

op and deliver new professional standards

for teachers The Welsh Government has

already looked to Technocamps to consid-

er ways to address the skills shortage

including becoming involved in their re-

cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-

gramme Technocamps started as a pro-

gramme to engage pupils as a means to

change perceptions about computing

amongst schools and teachers After

providing workshops for tens of thousands

of school children over the past decade

financed through a variety of funding

streams the Technocamps effect is finally

being felt and acted upon by schools and

government Faron Moller

The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks

the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris

Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth

Form Centre outlines its value

I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC

was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the

need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-

ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website

wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was

quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-

al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-

tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the

Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward

in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-

phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think

about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a

foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure

learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I

probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had

some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-

cation courses often taken by adults studying at home

Adaptive learning is a fascinating

blend of algorithmic learning and

psychology How many times has a

student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-

stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a

lesson Most other students may

have understood the topic but we

need to help the one The beauty is

that it is self-paced and reinforcing It

is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The

MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety

of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about

how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science

It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their

child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching

a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg

in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the

grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents

many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary

teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty

extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say

ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-

cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like

Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access

her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see

how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version

to enhance the learning experience in the classroom


Good as the Barefoot material is

it only covers the scope of the

primary programmes of study

The curriculum in secondary

schools is a little more complex as

at Key Stage 4 it is typically the

examination boards that deter-

mine the breadth and depth of the

taught programme This impacts

on planning for KS3 which in ad-

dition to needing to cater for all

students (year 9 sees the last for-

mal education in Computing for

many people) will need to pre-

pare students for further study in

specialist qualifications

The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-

puting explicit for primary teachers

but more detail is needed for sec-

ondary teachers For example the

discussion of variables does not

go beyond the storage and re-

trieval of data from memory at run

-time So while the pitch of the

KS3 programme can be inferred

from the National Curriculum and

GCSE specifications I think there

is a need for explicit exemplifica-

tion in the way that Barefoot does

for primary

To that end I have made a start

on producing some guides that

aim to build on the Barefoot re-

sources for years 7 8 and 9 The

intention is that they are read

alongside the Barefoot guides

Material on decomposition and

variables at key stage 3 can be

found on the CAS Community at

resources2934 and I hope to post

more as I write them And as ever

the CAS Resources is a wiki so

please feel free to contribute or

comment


Both Primary and Secondary guides

offer resources on managing the tran-

sition to Computing and whilst each is

tailored to their respective phase they

complement each other in a way I

think makes both guides valuable to

all of us teaching Computing The

Secondary guide draws together tools

to support curriculum planning It ad-

dresses issues such as schemes of

work and progression through to

choosing the right programming lan-

guage It is a useful guide to much of

the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the

new curriculum

The section on lsquomaking an effective

activityrsquo gives an important steer as to

the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum

It develops five aspects of computa-

tional thinking (approaching problems

as a computer scientist might) and

relates them to student activities on

spreadsheet modelling textual cod-

ing and Scratch This section also

points readers to the Interactive Pro-

gression Tool found on the QuickStart

website that cross-references the Na-

tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-

sion Pathways and links to further

resources For me embedding com-

putational thinking in planning is vital

and highlights a key change in em-

phasis between Computing and ICT

Progression in computational thinking

as a thread that runs through the

planned curriculum can help ensure

Computing has both relevance and

longevity this is a subject about solv-

ing problems and should develop un-

derlying processes that will outlast

software packages or the shelf-life of

the latest gadget A focus on compu-

tational thinking helps move planning

on from the application-centred ap-

proach we often saw in the past

(where one half-term might be spent

on spreadsheets the next on webpag-

es and so on

It is in this regard that I believe the

Primary QuickStart Computing guide

should be essential reading for sec-

ondary school teachers It gives a lot

more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and

lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-

vides the foundation on which the sec-

ondary guide can build It begins with

a detailed exploration of computation-

al thinking Drawing on the excellent

Barefoot Computing resources

(barefootcasorguk) it provides

breadth and scope to the subject and

illustrates the curriculum in action

The guide also describes some of the

key content from the rest of the curric-

ulum such as programming networks

and digital literacy Much of this is

directly applicable to Key Stage 3

especially during this transition phase

I think it is a great starting point for

secondary teachers anxious about the

transition from ICT Their issues with

subject knowledge are the same as

those for primary colleagues

The QuickStart Computing guides the

Interactive Progression Tool further

support resources and a map of local

places where the guides were distrib-

uted (check in with your local Master

Teacher or hub leader) can be found

at quickstartcomputingorg Further

CAS Resources on Computational

Thinking can be found on the CAS

Community at resources252

Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy

Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS

QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers

new to Computing to start with the primary resources

SAP a major computing company in Bel-

fast has been supporting schools through

supplying work experience placements for

pupils aged 14 years up The placements

which last for five days allow pupils to

work on a real IT project Pupils work as

part of a team working on all phases of a

software development project from require-

ments analysis to implementation testing

and final presentation The project aims to

develop a real application to be used by

the companies lab

Pupils have the opportunity to learn new

languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-

cript JSON and more They also gain

expert guidance and have the opportunity

to work with senior developers research-

ers PhD and placement students keen to

provide pupils with useful suggestions for a

future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-

ence sessions each year two in February

for 1415 year olds and two in August for

1617 year olds All are provided cost-free

by SAP who additionally provide all materi-

als If you teach in Belfast and would like

further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo

crabuazzosapcom

The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers

the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering

and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-

tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved

ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go

out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses

Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently

attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo

Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-

dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience

what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two

week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse

range of career options available for their students and build closer long

term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-

ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us

ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend

the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo

After the placement

participants attend be-

spoke CPD created by

the National Science

Learning Centre to fur-

ther their development

of engineering and ap-

ply it in the classroom

Anhar said ldquoNow that

Irsquom back at work it all

feels like itrsquos clicked into

place and I can relate

my teaching to real life

experience ndash something

I wasnrsquot able to do be-

fore taking part in the

TIPS schemerdquo First-

hand experience of the

world of modern engi-

neering and technology

is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future

career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their

knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-

ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering

and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse

some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read

more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at

bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp

2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS

placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-

mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-

lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in

this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips


Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society

Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-

bles primary and secondary teachers to invite

founders of successful growing businesses

to visit their schools and inspire their stu-

dents At the events business founders will

speak about what they studied at secondary

school and what motivated them to become

entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-

life applications from Science Technology

Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects

making a critical link to how learning STEM

directly relates to growing and scaling suc-

cessful enterprises

The organisation has over 8000 volunteers

and you can search their directory by area

and category Arts Engineering Maths

Technology and Science Their speakers are

well briefed the sessions are well structured

and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-

ly positive The site is very easy to use Take

a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk


What career paths are our current

Computing students going to have

Maybe some of these careers donrsquot

even exist yet All across Worcester-

shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-

shire are companies specialising in

Computer Science and more recently

Cyber Security Thousands of new

jobs will be created in Cyber Security

over the next 10 years If you had

sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-

ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber

Security rather than choose an aca-

demic route would you encourage

them to join the workplace at age 18

and earn whilst they learn (modern

apprenticeship) By the way these

lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing

to do with tool bags making tea and

sharpening chisels but would be for

the highest quality candidates whose

career path will be as stellar as a

graduatersquos most probably steeper In

return no student debt high quality

work a good salary travel and

achieving their degree at around 25

rather than 21 Sounds interesting

Well we think so and so do many

employers in the area such as GCHQ

in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in

Malvern These organisations and

others offer Higher Level Apprentice-

ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-

tices have the opportunity gain a

unique insight into a world of cyber

threats terrorism espionage and or-

ganised crime

More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-

ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-

ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas

such as cyber intrusion analyst net-

work engineer software developer

and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief

Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-

iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-

tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year

wersquore focusing even more on our ap-

prentice intake and without doubt an

apprenticeship can be a brilliant start

to your career The new range of

Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a

highly credible alternative to University

qualificationsrdquo

Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we

are supportive and in conjunction with

local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell

PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace

(and others) are constantly looking

to challenge and inform attitudes to

apprenticeships So to get the debate

started on 15th January the first IT amp

Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-

case was held at the University of

Worcester Arena This showcase

event was run jointly by CAS The

University of Worcester STEM team

Worcestershire County Council and

the organisers and students of the

innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-

prentice Development Scheme (CADS

- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It

was a huge success - see report right

The feedback was so positive that we

are now looking to turn this into an

annual event

For many many reasons the new

breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-

ble and meaningful route into the

Computing profession We strongly

encourage your students to consider

their options very carefully

Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career

in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3

Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening

in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area

Local training providers and over

thirty companies were on hand

giving information advice guid-

ance and providing some excel-

lent Cyber activities for students

lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL

provided a scene-setting brief He

highlighted some key attributes

employers look for and introduced

some ex-apprentices alluding to

their potential earnings The event

concluded with a panel discussion

in front of companies yet to take

the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble

chaired the panel and believes

ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on

offer and having all the stakehold-

ers in one place to answer em-

ployer questions makes this

event unique What we are

doing in Worcestershire 3

years on from the start of

CADS is testimony to the

Countyrsquos drive towards an

internationally recognised

cyber security visionrdquo

Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-

ting students found out more

about the sector-specific HLAs

For many this event changed

their perceptions of routes into IT

careers opening their eyes to new

opportunities Fraser Savage Y13

Chase Computing student said ldquoI

now have a much better level of

awareness regarding the quality of

training support and development

available on HLA programmes

with local companies Studying full

time for a degree would cost me a

serious amount of money and other

options may prove to be even better

for me in the long runrdquo

Jobs in the technology sector are of-

ten seen by women as male domi-

nant with them working alone

locked away with a computer all day

Obviously this stereotype is not true

but too many young girls believe it

leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy

A Guardian survey showed that the

technology industry ranked in the top

5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work

inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which

specialises in science engineering

and maths in California carried out

some research which looked into why

young girls did not choose careers in

this popular sector Their research

highlighted three key reasons One

they didnrsquot think it would be interest-

ing two they didnrsquot think they would

be good at it and three they think

they would be uncomfortable in the

workplace because of the strangers

they would be working alongside

I do feel that we need to get

over this stereotype of men in

the basement on their comput-

ers We need to catch young

girls at the right age and show

them what computing really is

In highlighting the challenges in

attracting more females into

technology I do think that it is

important to consider how we

involve men in addressing the

problem I agree with Alan Eu-

stace senior executive at

Google who encouraged fe-

males to expand their Women in

Technology Conferences to involve

men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are

preaching to the convertedrdquo

Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie

near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with

senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an

offer of work experience at her local Apple Store

The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots

of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this

industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the

3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in

school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have

a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly

that more women should be in the technology industry because as the

industry grows we want women to appear more and more

Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be

coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such

as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need

for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have

been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid

jobs each year

I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but

basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every

industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science

is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is

growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused

by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-

nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more

jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo

The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and

Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be

programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of

numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not

get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of

the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-

nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum

communications and frequency hopping These two jar-

gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

technologies that most of us today would struggle to live

without

In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-

typesResearching this topic has made me feel much

stronger about the need for more women to get involved

and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will

be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said

ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this

new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-

tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo


Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and

foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk

During the first century after the birth

of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated

the Persians and moved into Mesopo-

tamia what is now modern-day Iraq

Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-

ed the city of Baghdad Thus started

what is now considered by many

scholars to represent the high point of

Islamic civilisation when scholars

from around the world came to the

Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)

established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon

as a unique centre for mathemati-

cians astronomers scientists and

philosophers It soon became one of the

most famous centres of learning attract-

ing scholars from all over the world

The scholars built on the legacies of

Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-

totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-

thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta

and others The scholars accumulated

the greatest collection of knowledge in

the world and built on it through their

own discoveries Besides translating

books into Arabic and preserving

them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos

lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C

Arabic translation The first western

version of Elements was a translation

from the Arab version into Latin by

Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482

This was 27 years after Johannes

Gutenberg had produced the first

printed book It was through transla-

tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-

ern Europe began its own research in

the fields of mathematics and science

Scholars associated with the House of

Wisdom also made original contribu-

tions to different fields of study One

such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-

med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-

Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al

jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as

lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-

tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in

the early part of the 9th C The book

was then translated into Latin by Rob-

ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic

phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the

origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo

The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-

tional decimal numeral system used

throughout the world It was invented

between the 1st and 4th centuries by

Hindu mathematicians The system

was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book

lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-

alsrsquo published in 825

Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-

ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-

Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely

associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo

using the Hindu numerals that the

Latin form of his name algorismus

was given to any treatise on that topic

Hence by a devious path is derived

the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the

modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false

etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo

Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method

of expressing every possible number

using a set of ten symbols (each sym-

bol having a place value and an abso-

lute value) emerged in India The idea

seems so simple nowadays that its

significance and profound importance

is no longer appreciated Its simplicity

lies in the way it facilitated calculation

and placed arithmetic foremost

amongst useful inventions The im-

portance of this invention is more

readily appreciated when one consid-

ers that it was beyond the two great-

est men of Antiquity Archimedes and

Apolloniusrdquo

Herersquos a challenge for the class can

you or any of your pupils pronounce

Al-Khowarizmi

Computing technology may only have a

short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-

plains many of the ideas that lie behind

Computer Science go back a lot further


Appreciating the role of other cul-

tures in developing some of the

pivotal ideas in Computer Science

can be a rewarding experience for

students Cryptography a word

drawn from the Greek for hidden

and writing kryptos and graphein

has roots in cultures including Egyp-

tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-

can Indians Interested students

would benefit from reading an article

on the Student Pulse website

(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has

links to further articles A good start-

ing point might also be a couple of

articles on the CS4FN website

Written by Computer Science stu-

dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and

Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short

introduction lsquoThe Dark History of

Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-

lights the role of another 9th century

scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq

Al-Kindi better known in

the west as Alkindous in

the development of cryp-

tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh

is also a very accessible

history tracing the ori-

gins of cryptographic

techniques

For teachers wanting more

information on this fascinating topic

see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at

bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson

at bitly1xR4Puj

Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating

the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous

Computing At School are supported and endorsed by

In the big data age the vast data

volumes present new challenges

in optimization which classical

algorithms are not designed to

handle Increasingly in domains

like computational biology and

machine learning problems may

have many millions of variables

New approaches are being devel-

oped to benefit from such data

For example a special care baby

unit analysing every babyrsquos heart

beat and breathing pattern devel-

oped algorithms to predict infec-

tions 24 hours before physical

symptoms appear so buying pre-

cious treatment time for infants

Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten

Llull University created a system

for geolocating videos by compar-

ing their images and audio with a

global multimedia database A

potential terrorist location may be

identified from propaganda vide-

os or missing people who disap-

pear after posting video online

may be found Data is grouped

and clusters compared algorithmi-

cally with existing geolocated vid-

eos The team used 10000 se-

quences as a reference to detect

likely geographical coordinates

locating 3 of videos within a

10km radius To apply to more vid-

eos the algorithm will require a

much larger audio-visual database

Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking

algorithms involve over 200 fac-

tors New developments include

evaluating trustworthiness ac-

cording to a Knowledge-Based

Trust score In theory this ele-

vates factual and news sources

however critics fear it will encour-

age censorship barring minority

voices from the results pages

For more inspiring ideas to share

with children see MIT News

httpnewsofficemitedutopic

algorithms Lyndsay Hope

The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-

thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution

from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code

Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about

Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to

inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with

coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-

grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched

online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a

regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans

Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk

Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell

Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna

Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys

Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce

Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-

mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White

wwwcomputingatschoolorguk

University Of Birmingham Saturday 20

th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)

Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes

The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom

I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g

The details of the plans announced

by the BBC to equip all Year 7 pupils

with a rsquoMicro Bitrsquo were just emerging

as this issue of SwitchedON was be-

ing prepared Teachers will obviously

be clamouring for more information

and will look to the latter stages of the

summer term as a time to think about

ways the initiative can support their

emerging Computing curriculum A

flurry of questions were raised on the

CAS forums and elsewhere

The BBC responded by launching a

blog at bbcin1CxXhx6 The first post

written by Cerys Griffiths Executive

Producer for BBC Learning emphasiz-

es two points Firstly the devices de-

signed to enthuse excite and empow-

er will be owned by children Second

that the distribution will be through

schools with a view to them being

used in lessons as well The logistics

are huge but Cerys writes ldquoWe also

realise how important it is for teachers

to get a chance to see and use the

Micro Bit in advance We are working

through the detail but we aim to en-

sure that IT teachers get their hands

on the device before the summer holi-

days We also want to give them the

opportunity to explore ways of using

the Micro Bits in lessons so there will

be some curriculum resources made

available at the same timerdquo

An initiative on this scale sends a very

important message to schools about

the importance of Computing Putting

the kit in the hands of the children will

help engage parents too Keep an eye

on the blog for more news as it emerg-

es and ensure your school leadership

is aware of the plans afoot

Joe Finney Senior Lecturer at Lancaster

University provides a heads up on plans

to give a million lsquoMicro Bitsrsquo to Year 7 pu-

pils next academic year

In a move that will no doubt bring a nostalgic smile to anyone of my genera-

tion the BBC recently announced the launch of the Micro Bit (a working

name that may change) a small lightweight computer designed solely for

one purposehellip to encourage children to become digital creators rather than

digital consumers Although initially conceived by the BBC the Micro Bit has

developed into a collaborative project bringing together industry including

the likes of ARM Barclays Microsoft Samsung and ScienceScope as well

as universities and charitable organizations with a single shared aim to cre-

ate one million of these devices by this autumn and deliver one free of

charge to every year 7 child in the country

Itrsquos difficult to avoid drawing parallels to the BBC Model B of the 1980s ndash a

device for which I personally have very fond memories Admittedly this may

in part be due to me holding the top score in my class at Chuckie Egg but

also because it provided my first taste of coding Drawing those geometric

patterns on the screen Writing guess-the-number puzzles for my sister to

play Creating my own simple computer games I was hooked Before I knew

it computing was my hobby my passion my specialist subject and my ca-

reer Now I look at my own kids and wonder ndash where do they start

The Micro Bit is still under development so confirmed details remain scarce

but it is being designed to be a standalone programmable device that is

small enough to wear It also aims to provide a programming environment to

suit a range of abilities It reduces the amount of technical setup and installa-

tion required from teachers or parents at home to the absolute minimum It

will contain an integrated LED matrix display and be extensible enough to

allow interfacing with other devices such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi

There will no doubt be teachers reading this short article who have perfectly

understandable concerns that this initiative might bring new challenges into

their classroom I know that producing a wide range of resources for teach-

ers well ahead of the autumn is a priority for the BBC and their partners so I

would say this fear the Micro Bit as much as you would fear Fuzzy Felt It

provides the material through which children can explore digital creativity

The very best computer scientists seamlessly blend creativity with computa-

tional thinking In 1967 Seymour Papert famously created the Logo language

with its ubiquitous robot lsquoturtlersquo that inspired children to write programs that

create geometric lines and shapes Yet forty five years later so many teach-

ing examples I still see create robots to follow lines not create them My fear

is that we create a generation of line followers not line creators

I for one am very proud to be part of the core team designing and develop-

ing this device and working alongside companies such as ARM Microsoft

Research and Samsung to develop something that blends technology and

creativity and bring that into the hands of the next generation As Arthur C

Clarke famously stated ndash ldquoAny sufficiently advanced technology is indistin-

guishable from magicrdquo So borrowing the immortal lines from Disneyrsquos Fro-

zenhellip Do you wanna build a snowman







































itcouk website

and ties it all

together with

new material

The CPD

package is set

out in such a

way that if

you were the

computer



















































How time flies when





inspection We now


well some of it and

more is on the way








































we still need to do





















Last term col-

leagues from

CAS and the De-

sign and Technol-

ogy Association

(DATA) met to

discuss joint guid-

ance for teach-

ers drawing links

between the two

subjects with a



my of Engineering




































of our tinkering










standing of how

the boards work

and how they

could be used as

input The next

step is designing

input based pro-

grams in Scratch

with the Makey-

Makey board in

mind

Their programs














video input from a







sense any movement












grams

































signs



as possible



red ones




















play them






















er Science

Last year the

Chair of CAS

Simon Pey-

ton-Jones

was asked to

speak at a

local TED

conference in

Exeter In it

he makes a
































identified


ally hard



computer control






































































site as an example











Project aims


















lighting and music

Task















Resources







Solution




















































in for marking





lems as they arise




bitly1CURy9T





67 bitly1HZD8ER

























home straight



















































being notes and










best swag bag ever











































the printed page









CS concepts






















hole for a lanyard










or via an SD card







































































guage and paradigm













year round


































































































































as a square









through at B











the pentagon









a 6-sided hexagon

a 7-sided heptagon


for the heptagon






out the pentagram



McOwan have now



for cs4fn The books

are collections of

easy to do magic


card tricks) The

twist is that every

trick comes with a


science too As you



about what computer


too Each book

contains more

about the talented

magicians past and

present who created

both mathematical

self working and



available to down-

load free from

cs4fnorgmagic







ideas are that


presentation












































































has now moved piles














pile to the other














ing toast





















Nothing has to move













card is placed







































































































Yvonne Walker






































































































































classrooms










































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj


















































































































itcouk website

and ties it all

together with

new material

The CPD

package is set

out in such a

way that if

you were the

computer



















































How time flies when





inspection We now


well some of it and

more is on the way








































we still need to do





















Last term col-

leagues from

CAS and the De-

sign and Technol-

ogy Association

(DATA) met to

discuss joint guid-

ance for teach-

ers drawing links

between the two

subjects with a



my of Engineering




































of our tinkering










standing of how

the boards work

and how they

could be used as

input The next

step is designing

input based pro-

grams in Scratch

with the Makey-

Makey board in

mind

Their programs














video input from a







sense any movement












grams

































signs



as possible



red ones




















play them






















er Science

Last year the

Chair of CAS

Simon Pey-

ton-Jones

was asked to

speak at a

local TED

conference in

Exeter In it

he makes a
































identified


ally hard



computer control






































































site as an example











Project aims


















lighting and music

Task















Resources







Solution




















































in for marking





lems as they arise




bitly1CURy9T





67 bitly1HZD8ER

























home straight



















































being notes and










best swag bag ever











































the printed page









CS concepts






















hole for a lanyard










or via an SD card







































































guage and paradigm













year round


































































































































as a square









through at B











the pentagon









a 6-sided hexagon

a 7-sided heptagon


for the heptagon






out the pentagram



McOwan have now



for cs4fn The books

are collections of

easy to do magic


card tricks) The

twist is that every

trick comes with a


science too As you



about what computer


too Each book

contains more

about the talented

magicians past and

present who created

both mathematical

self working and



available to down-

load free from

cs4fnorgmagic







ideas are that


presentation












































































has now moved piles














pile to the other














ing toast





















Nothing has to move













card is placed







































































































Yvonne Walker






































































































































classrooms










































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj

































































































Last term col-

leagues from

CAS and the De-

sign and Technol-

ogy Association

(DATA) met to

discuss joint guid-

ance for teach-

ers drawing links

between the two

subjects with a



my of Engineering




































of our tinkering










standing of how

the boards work

and how they

could be used as

input The next

step is designing

input based pro-

grams in Scratch

with the Makey-

Makey board in

mind

Their programs














video input from a







sense any movement












grams

































signs



as possible



red ones




















play them






















er Science

Last year the

Chair of CAS

Simon Pey-

ton-Jones

was asked to

speak at a

local TED

conference in

Exeter In it

he makes a
































identified


ally hard



computer control






































































site as an example











Project aims


















lighting and music

Task















Resources







Solution




















































in for marking





lems as they arise




bitly1CURy9T





67 bitly1HZD8ER

























home straight



















































being notes and










best swag bag ever











































the printed page









CS concepts






















hole for a lanyard










or via an SD card







































































guage and paradigm













year round


































































































































as a square









through at B











the pentagon









a 6-sided hexagon

a 7-sided heptagon


for the heptagon






out the pentagram



McOwan have now



for cs4fn The books

are collections of

easy to do magic


card tricks) The

twist is that every

trick comes with a


science too As you



about what computer


too Each book

contains more

about the talented

magicians past and

present who created

both mathematical

self working and



available to down-

load free from

cs4fnorgmagic







ideas are that


presentation












































































has now moved piles














pile to the other














ing toast





















Nothing has to move













card is placed







































































































Yvonne Walker






































































































































classrooms










































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj















































































video input from a







sense any movement












grams

































signs



as possible



red ones




















play them






















er Science

Last year the

Chair of CAS

Simon Pey-

ton-Jones

was asked to

speak at a

local TED

conference in

Exeter In it

he makes a
































identified


ally hard



computer control






































































site as an example











Project aims


















lighting and music

Task















Resources







Solution




















































in for marking





lems as they arise




bitly1CURy9T





67 bitly1HZD8ER

























home straight



















































being notes and










best swag bag ever











































the printed page









CS concepts






















hole for a lanyard










or via an SD card







































































guage and paradigm













year round


































































































































as a square









through at B











the pentagon









a 6-sided hexagon

a 7-sided heptagon


for the heptagon






out the pentagram



McOwan have now



for cs4fn The books

are collections of

easy to do magic


card tricks) The

twist is that every

trick comes with a


science too As you



about what computer


too Each book

contains more

about the talented

magicians past and

present who created

both mathematical

self working and



available to down-

load free from

cs4fnorgmagic







ideas are that


presentation












































































has now moved piles














pile to the other














ing toast





















Nothing has to move













card is placed







































































































Yvonne Walker






































































































































classrooms










































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj
























































































identified


ally hard



computer control






































































site as an example











Project aims


















lighting and music

Task















Resources







Solution




















































in for marking





lems as they arise




bitly1CURy9T





67 bitly1HZD8ER

























home straight



















































being notes and










best swag bag ever











































the printed page









CS concepts






















hole for a lanyard










or via an SD card







































































guage and paradigm













year round


































































































































as a square









through at B











the pentagon









a 6-sided hexagon

a 7-sided heptagon


for the heptagon






out the pentagram



McOwan have now



for cs4fn The books

are collections of

easy to do magic


card tricks) The

twist is that every

trick comes with a


science too As you



about what computer


too Each book

contains more

about the talented

magicians past and

present who created

both mathematical

self working and



available to down-

load free from

cs4fnorgmagic







ideas are that


presentation












































































has now moved piles














pile to the other














ing toast





















Nothing has to move













card is placed







































































































Yvonne Walker






































































































































classrooms










































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj






















































































Project aims


















lighting and music

Task















Resources







Solution




















































in for marking





lems as they arise




bitly1CURy9T





67 bitly1HZD8ER

























home straight



















































being notes and










best swag bag ever











































the printed page









CS concepts






















hole for a lanyard










or via an SD card







































































guage and paradigm













year round


































































































































as a square









through at B











the pentagon









a 6-sided hexagon

a 7-sided heptagon


for the heptagon






out the pentagram



McOwan have now



for cs4fn The books

are collections of

easy to do magic


card tricks) The

twist is that every

trick comes with a


science too As you



about what computer


too Each book

contains more

about the talented

magicians past and

present who created

both mathematical

self working and



available to down-

load free from

cs4fnorgmagic







ideas are that


presentation












































































has now moved piles














pile to the other














ing toast





















Nothing has to move













card is placed







































































































Yvonne Walker






































































































































classrooms










































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj




























































































home straight



















































being notes and










best swag bag ever











































the printed page









CS concepts






















hole for a lanyard










or via an SD card







































































guage and paradigm













year round


































































































































as a square









through at B











the pentagon









a 6-sided hexagon

a 7-sided heptagon


for the heptagon






out the pentagram



McOwan have now



for cs4fn The books

are collections of

easy to do magic


card tricks) The

twist is that every

trick comes with a


science too As you



about what computer


too Each book

contains more

about the talented

magicians past and

present who created

both mathematical

self working and



available to down-

load free from

cs4fnorgmagic







ideas are that


presentation












































































has now moved piles














pile to the other














ing toast





















Nothing has to move













card is placed







































































































Yvonne Walker






































































































































classrooms










































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj
































































































the printed page









CS concepts






















hole for a lanyard










or via an SD card







































































guage and paradigm













year round


































































































































as a square









through at B











the pentagon









a 6-sided hexagon

a 7-sided heptagon


for the heptagon






out the pentagram



McOwan have now



for cs4fn The books

are collections of

easy to do magic


card tricks) The

twist is that every

trick comes with a


science too As you



about what computer


too Each book

contains more

about the talented

magicians past and

present who created

both mathematical

self working and



available to down-

load free from

cs4fnorgmagic







ideas are that


presentation












































































has now moved piles














pile to the other














ing toast





















Nothing has to move













card is placed







































































































Yvonne Walker






































































































































classrooms










































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj























































































guage and paradigm













year round


































































































































as a square









through at B











the pentagon









a 6-sided hexagon

a 7-sided heptagon


for the heptagon






out the pentagram



McOwan have now



for cs4fn The books

are collections of

easy to do magic


card tricks) The

twist is that every

trick comes with a


science too As you



about what computer


too Each book

contains more

about the talented

magicians past and

present who created

both mathematical

self working and



available to down-

load free from

cs4fnorgmagic







ideas are that


presentation












































































has now moved piles














pile to the other














ing toast





















Nothing has to move













card is placed







































































































Yvonne Walker






































































































































classrooms










































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj


































































































































as a square









through at B











the pentagon









a 6-sided hexagon

a 7-sided heptagon


for the heptagon






out the pentagram



McOwan have now



for cs4fn The books

are collections of

easy to do magic


card tricks) The

twist is that every

trick comes with a


science too As you



about what computer


too Each book

contains more

about the talented

magicians past and

present who created

both mathematical

self working and



available to down-

load free from

cs4fnorgmagic







ideas are that


presentation












































































has now moved piles














pile to the other














ing toast





















Nothing has to move













card is placed







































































































Yvonne Walker






































































































































classrooms










































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj















































































McOwan have now



for cs4fn The books

are collections of

easy to do magic


card tricks) The

twist is that every

trick comes with a


science too As you



about what computer


too Each book

contains more

about the talented

magicians past and

present who created

both mathematical

self working and



available to down-

load free from

cs4fnorgmagic







ideas are that


presentation












































































has now moved piles














pile to the other














ing toast





















Nothing has to move













card is placed







































































































Yvonne Walker






































































































































classrooms










































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj















































































































has now moved piles














pile to the other














ing toast





















Nothing has to move













card is placed







































































































Yvonne Walker






































































































































classrooms










































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj



































































































































































Yvonne Walker






































































































































classrooms










































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj


















































































































































































































classrooms










































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj















































































































licized it widely












forum






























sions


























Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj


















































































Subject Knowledge

Age Range

Resource Type



















more categories













terialrdquo)






on the context


English Curriculum

Scottish Curriculum

LanguagePlatform
















































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj


































































































































































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj





























































































The

Barefoot

material

makes

the pitch

of Com-













for primary














comment
















new curriculum

































es and so on



















































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj
























































































the companies lab















crabuazzosapcom


















After the placement















































cessful enterprises














































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj


















































































































ganised crime
















qualificationsrdquo






















annual event
















































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj







































































































































jobs each year



















without










Ada Lovelace

Hedy Lamarr

























































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj



































































































































































Apolloniusrdquo



Al-Khowarizmi
































tography The Code

Book by Simon Singh




techniques





at bitly1xR4Puj























































































































































Documents

Cas newsletter summer 2015