The Tenderfoot project provides high quality resources to support the CPD of key stage 2/3 teachers of Computing.

You can read about the project here http://www.computingatschool.org.uk/tenderfoot

CAS North West (Manchester) are offering CPD covering one of the units in the first instance.

'Laying Firm Foundations' will be delivered over 3 sessions on 17th January, 8th February and 22nd March. All sessions are 14:15 - 17:00

Laying Firm Foundations: A Conceptual Approach to Programming

This unit focuses on the primary-to-secondary transition, emphasising the need to lay down firm conceptual foundations. The unit is broken down into 3 separate but related sessions:

• Concepts and Continuity
• Structured Programming and 
• Transitioning to Text

These sessions are aimed at non-computing specialists who want to develop their subject knowledge as well as providing some excellent activities that can be used in school.

In Summary

The specific outcomes for teachers, from this unit, are to:

• Understand the key concepts (algorithms, decomposition, abstraction and generalization) required to write programs;
• Recognise the three constructs (sequence, selection and repetition) required in all algorithms;
• Appreciate the centrality of a variable;
• Become familiar with functions and procedures and recognise their role in structured programming;
• Consider some of the cognitive challenges posed by text-based coding.

Throughout the sessions we hope that teachers will have the opportunity to explore a range of activities to introduce these core concepts and constructs in their lessons.

Above all we hope to convey three key points:

• That Computing is about much more than programming;
• That Computing is fundamentally about a way of thinking;
• Computational Thinking is best developed through computational doing.

To book on the Laying Firm Foundations session please click on the links below. We strongly recommend that ALL sessions are attended as there is a flow of information and learning.

Session 1: Concepts and Continuity

Session 2: Structured Programming

Session 3: Transitioning to Text 

Any questions? Email carol.murray@computingatschool.org.uk