25 October 2023
Get involved with our newest CAS Thematic Communities
Expand your knowledge, share experiences and make connections at our new thematic CAS Communities.
Our ten new exciting thematic communities are vibrant groups which aim to share experiences and techniques for teaching computing in the classroom, introduce new methods and practices to the teaching of computing and provide a platform for discussion and improvement.
“CAS Communities are where our members share inspiration and great initiatives. They’re the heart of CAS and we’re so pleased to be expanding the range on offer. Our communities are vibrant, welcoming groups and we’d love you to join us, get involved and share your ideas and knowledge.”
- Dr Jon Chippindall, CAS director.
The CAS AI Community run by Becci Peters, will focus on two main areas: how to teach AI to students and the dangers of using AI within the classroom, and how to utilise AI tools as a teacher to reduce your workload. There will be regular meetings where we will share updates and resources to assist you and keep you updated in this fast-paced area.
The CAS Primary Community, run by Sarah Edmundson and Dr Jon Chippindall , focuses on computing in primary schools across the UK. The community will run events over the course of the year, bringing you new tools and subject areas for primary school computing and encouraging the creation and sharing of resources to support primary school teachers.
The CAS Secondary Community run by Becci Peters & Pete Dring focuses on computing in secondary schools across the UK. The community will run events over the course of the year, bringing you new tools and subject areas for secondary school computing and encouraging the creation and sharing of resources to support secondary school teachers.
The CAS Secondary HoDs Community run by Simon Humphreys focuses on supporting HoDs of Secondary Computing. Half-termly meetings will provide an informal community of members supporting each other and provide a space for discussion between CAS members in order to share practices.
The CAS A-Level Community run by Peter Marshman and Becci Peters focuses on supporting teachers of A-level Computer Science. The community will run events over the course of the year, bringing you new tools and subject areas for A-level computing and encouraging the creation and sharing of resources to support teachers.
The CAS Trainee & ECT Community run by Peter Kemp and Becci Peters focuses on supporting teachers who are in the first few years of their careers and those who support them. Regular meetings will provide an informal community of members supporting each other and provide a space for discussion between CAS members in order to share practices.
The CAS Interactive 3D Community, run by Becci Peters with Steve Isaacs, focuses on technology enabling digital interactive 3D experiences and is brought to you by the Epic Education Programme at Epic Games. The community will provide a variety of events over the year, covering the use of Unreal Engine in schools, encouraging community-driven co-creation and the sharing of resources around interactive 3D in schools and engaging with free Epic Games initiatives for UK schools.
The CAS Physical Computing community, run by Peter Marshman, provides an informal community of members supporting each other through termly and ad hoc meetings with support from industry specialists and provides a space for discussion between CAS members in order to share practices and resources for the use of physical computing in the classroom. It aims to establish effective practices for using physical commuting in the classroom, work to successfully integrate physical computing within the wider school vision and make available resources to support teachers.
Run by Dr Jane Waite and Dr Jon Chippindall, The CAS Research Community supports CAS members with computer science research and raises the profile of computer science research within CAS and beyond. The community can support members with their own research, their use of research in the classroom and doing research as part of their studies.
The CAS Include Community aims to increase diversity and inclusion in computing and is run by Catherine Elliot and Rebecca Franks. Catherine has been a member of CAS Include since 2014 and works for the Sheffield eLearning Service supporting schools with computing. She is one of the primary leads for the York, East & South Yorkshire Computing Hub.
Rebecca was part of the launch of CAS Include in 2012, she’s been a computing teacher for over 15 years and is passionate about making computing an inclusive space for all and is now the Co-founder of Flip Computing.