BT is to partner with BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, in running the Barefoot Computing project, a national scheme to support primary school teachers as they start to teach the new computing curriculum.
Starting this summer, the project will provide cross-curricular computer science resources aimed at primary schoolteachers who have no previous computer science knowledge. The Barefoot Computing project, which was referenced by Education Secretary Michael Gove in his recent speech at BETT is being run by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, together with CAS, the Computing At School group.
The new Barefoot Computing resources will help teachers understand ideas and concepts such as algorithms, abstraction and data structures, how they occur naturally in many other disciplines that they also teach, and how they can teach them to children starting from age five.
Education Minister Elizabeth Truss said: “I am delighted that BT will be helping BCS support primary schoolteachers through the Barefoot Computing project.
“By teaching coding and computing to children from age five we are honouring the great legacy of figures like Alan Turing and Tommy Flowers and will be producing the tech entrepreneurs of the future.”
Bill Mitchell, director of education at the Institute, explained: “BT have been supporters of CAS for several years. They also have a deep practical understanding of what works in primary schools through a scheme they’ve been running locally in Suffolk. BCS working in partnership with BT will be well placed to provide primary schoolteachers across England with inspirational, creative computer science classroom resources that will also improve students’ attainment in maths, English and other subjects such as history and art.“