The Digital Skills & Computing In Education Signpost – (Date to be announced)

Join us for a themed lunch…

Understanding the School & college focus and challenge and what schools need from, and can offer industry

We’re aiming to continue to shape our planning for schools, drawing multiple strands of digital education together, and planning for a Festival of Learning on 30 October (Adastral Park).

The Festival strands are…

1) USING TECH & MULTI-MEDIA TO IMPROVE LEARNING
Growing Confidence & Pedagogy

2) THE TECH EXCHANGE
Cross-curricular, infusion of tech insights to light up curiosity and embed deeper learning

3) LINKING CAREERS TO CURRICULUM
Preparation For The Jobs Of The Future

4) BUILDING CAPACITY THROUGH A CULTURE OF CONFIDENCE
Supporting, Upskilling & Growing Confidence In Non-Specialist teachers, New Teachers, Learning Support & Cover Supervisors

General topics surrounding the agenda…

• Creating culture – where integration between industry and education happens ‘because of the system, rather than despite the system’
• What does businesses want?: The mutual ‘transaction’ between business and education.
• Translating employer needs into provision in schools & colleges: how can those employers needs best be met by the provider in more responsive ways?
• Methods for reducing barriers to integration of industry insights into schools
• Increasing uptake in computing & technology related courses
• Articulating employer skills needs – what are the skills employers need locally and struggle to find?
• The place for Labour Market Information in shaping integration between schools and the tech industry

Mini-Briefing: Understanding the School & College Focus and Challenge

• Demystifying key language in computing related education delivery
• Understanding the National Curriculum and the latest school Computing Curriculum self-evaluation process (CQF: The Computing Quality Framework) – and how this relates to industry
• Using industry links to inspire non-specialist teachers
• Upskilling and enthusing non-specialist teachers and prospective teachers of computing & computer science
• Developing organisastion level approaches to the infusion of tech into non-tech subjects
  

Research Background

Underpinned by research and evidence based practice, such as the Education Endowment Foundation Report (Using Digital Technology to Improve Learning, 2021, Kevan Collins), LinkedIn Talent Insights, the New Anglia LEP and LSIP, and to help achieve Gatsby Benchmark 4 in schools (i.e. Linking Curriculum with Industry), the mission is to make tangible connections between curriculum and ‘real world’ industry knowledge and experience will be ever more important in supporting our ever evolving society.|

Examples of skills needs in industry…how important are these? How can we develop these better?

• Social Media for Marketing
• Microsoft Applications
• Website updating and development
• Computer Aided Design
• Data entry (i.e. CRM)

Examples of soft skills needed in industry…how important? How can we develop these better?

• Communication
• Teamwork
• Problem solving
• Leadership
• Time management
• Ethical understanding