CAS Regional Community: West Midlands
Welcome to your CAS Regional Community!
Keep an eye out here for upcoming regional events and opportunities.
Got a question or suggestion? The community leaders listed at the top of the page are ready to help!
We also encourage you to join the conversation: post your thoughts, ideas, resources, or any local teaching vacancies on the Discussion Board at the bottom of the page to share with the community.
Regional Communities bring together local groups from across a wider area, creating opportunities to connect, collaborate, and share ideas beyond your immediate network. These overarching communities are designed to support and strengthen Local Communities by hosting regional events and encouraging cross-community connections.
Cyberfirst
CyberFirst is a government-backed outreach and education programme designed to create opportunities for talented young people in future-focused tech careers. CyberFirst supports students from all backgrounds to consider a career in tech – including cyber security, AI, quantum computing, software, data and more. Over the next few months readers will notice an increase in the use of TechFirst as CyberFirst remit is expanded.
BCS Branches
As part of its commitment to building a strong professional community, BCS supports a network of regional member branches across the UK. These local groups provide opportunities for members to connect, share knowledge, and get involved in events and activities relevant to their area. Whether you're looking to expand your professional network, attend local talks and workshops, or contribute to the wider digital community, your nearest BCS branch is a great place to start. You can find more information and explore the full list of BCS member communities here.
Upcoming Events
09 Dec 2025
CAS International Baccalaureate (IB) - Comp Sci - Community Meet
16 Dec 2025
CAS Wolverhampton Community Meeting (Face to Face)
26 Jan 2026
iPads in Action! – Learning Walk
03 Mar 2026
Supporting SEND Learners using the iPad – Learning Walk
10 Mar 2026
ONLINE Spring West Mids Secondary Computing Leads Meeting
19 May 2026
Computing Festival of Learning
05 Jun 2026
Computing in Action! – Learning Walk
01 Jul 2026
West Midlands Secondary Regional Meetup at FoC26
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Community Notice Board: CAS Regional Community: West Midlands
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West Midlands Secondary Regional Meetup at FoC26
It was great to see so many of you F2F at CAS Conference here at Bromsgrove last month, and here’s another date for your diary - on Wednesday 1st July, 2026, at Bromsgrove School (B61 7DU) West Midlands, we will host the “Craig ‘n’ Dave Festival of Computing 2026 @Bromsgrove School, headline sponsor - AQA”. There is yet again “no charge” for delegates, exhibitors, presenters and non-sponsoring organisations.
Our event last year was a triumph, and we do hope to see as many of you as possible at Bromsgrove in July? We expect over 300 people this year, with even more in the Marketplace as commercial interest has increased significantly. Big thanks to CAS for being one of the 2026 sponsors.
We had a successful “meet and mingle” for West Midlands Secondary CAS people at FoC25, so we’ll do it again at FoC26!
And I’ve spoken to a fair few folks already about this, but if you might be interested in presenting, and I haven’t asked you already, do let me know, and I’ll send you a pack?
We have invited over 80 organisations and individuals to take part, and we hope to accommodate as many requests as possible, to make this a high-value, interesting and relevant day of CPD, networking and inspiration for all. As in 2025, on-site accommodation will be available, plus there will be a Social Event on the Tuesday, sponsored by VEX Robotics. NB: Presenters / Sponsors will again get a priority booking opportunity to book on-site accommodation (small charge to cover costs, subject to availability), before it goes on general release.
Thank you, again, in anticipation of your support for this event, and for everything else you are doing to help schools and teachers as we go into what we know will be a massive period of change in the Computing Subject over the next few years. It really is appreciated.
It’s going to be another amazing event!
MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW
Best wishes
Johnny
Mr JT Palmer BSc(Hons) PGCE MSc SLE NPQSL MIET MBCS CITP FCCT
Director of Digital Innovation, Bromsgrove School
Hi all,
Chris Swan here, PGCE Secondary Computer Science and IT lead tutor at Birmingham City University. I’m currently seeking school placements for my wonderful and super-keen trainee teachers. I am in my 9th year working at BCU and this has been the most challenging year for getting all trainees placed. We have had many schools withdraw placement offers - recently, one the night before the trainee’s induction. As you can imagine, this has caused huge disappointment.
I have made it my recent mission to fill up local schools with enthusiastic, committed, CS teachers, and it is an absolute pleasure to meet so many of them in their schools years after they trained at BCU. I also have another motive, and that is that this is the right thing to do. We need Computing to grow in schools and to be offered more widely. Currently, according to the latest Royal Soc. report, only 51.9% of Birmingham schools offer GCSE CS. We also need IT to be valued as a subject of its own value (bring back the GCSE!!), as it engaged more young people from under represented groups.
Back to my immediate pressing mission, if you teach in a Birmingham school, or southern area such as Redditch or Bromsgrove, and you could host a trainee placement, please, please drop me an email christine.swan@bcu.ac.uk Thank you for reading this and I’d be delighted to hear from you.
Hello everyone
It was great to see so many familiar faces here at Bromsgrove School at the end of October for the CAS National Conference!
Please do sign up for our next Secondary Leads meeting on 11/11/2025 here
We have many more events scheduled in the region including
a) CyberFirst meetups / activities
b) a F2F OCR Computer Science Network meeting at Bromsgrove School on 24/2/2026 - book here
c) And, just like last year, there will be a F2F CAS West Midlands Regional meetup at the Festival of Computing here at Bromsgrove School on 1/7/2026.
More info to follow…
Best
Johnny Palmer
CAS Board Member
CAS West Midlands Regional Lead
CAS Midlands West Computing Hub Lead
Welcome: It is terrific you have found us and can now ask questions or collaborate on exciting projects to support both staff and students. My name is Richard Smith and I am one of the community leaders. The first event I am running is an online event to explore the exciting possibilities of using the Micro:bit as a sensor for magnetic forces (link above). We hope to also hold some face to face events so any ideas you have would be welcome. You can contact me directly via amazingict@icloud.com