This article was published on February 7, 2014

Google-backed Code Club Pro scheme will train teachers for new UK computing curriculum


Google-backed Code Club Pro scheme will train teachers for new UK computing curriculum

In September, the UK government will introduce a new computing curriculum to ensure that the next generation is equipped with basic programming and coding skills.

It’s a massive shift for teachers, who until now have been instructing their students predominantly in applications such as Microsoft Office. Code Club, a network of volunteer-led after-school coding clubs for children aged 9 to 11 in the UK, wants to bring primary school teachers up to speed with a new training program supported by Google and Computing at Schools.

“To date, there has been a lack of focus on how to equip the primary school teachers to actually teach this new subject,” Clare Sutcliffe, the co-founder and CEO of Code Club said. “We know first hand that teachers are feeling daunted by the prospect of having to teach a syllabus they don’t fully understand themselves. As a result, we decided to create a training programme.”

Code Club Pro will offer Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training as optional, paid-for sessions held after-school or on INSET days. They’ll be delivered by programming experts, who Code Club is now training to be volunteer teachers for the scheme.

Google has invested £120,000 (roughly $196,000 USD) into the initiative to try to keep costs low for both teachers and schools. Code Club says it hopes to train at least 20,000 primary school teachers by 2016, and even more through programmes and resources that it’ll be hosting on the web.

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Read Next: Coding, killjoys and the science of education / ARM backs 1,000 after-school clubs to help children learn to code in the UK

Code Club Pro (Blog Post)

Image Credit: DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP/Getty Images

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