View from the classroom
View from the classroom Nazneen Chadee
How did you hear about the Digital Schoolhouse Project?
T
his month, Education Today speaks to Nazneen Chadee from Woodford County High School for Girls, about the school’s involvement in the Digital Schoolhouse Project, and its provision of expert support and knowledge for the study and delivery of the Key Stage 2 Computing curriculum.
Tell us a little about your school Woodford County High School for Girls is a secondary grammar school situated in Redbridge, Essex. The atmosphere is warm, friendly and focused and our pupils enjoy studying and socialising here. To visitors, it is very apparent that relationships between girls in all year groups are strong and supportive and that the girls learn within a safe and happy environment. Both staff and girls lead very active lives here and we have a packed school calendar. There is always a lot going on enabling girls of different ages to work together. They thoroughly enjoy collaborating on the colourful range of events and activities that make up the fabric of the Woodford school year and contribute to the distinct ethos of the place.
An invitation to apply and to participate in the project was received by the headteacher, Jo Pomeroy. It was initially forwarded as part of a circular email to all secondary schools encouraging those who were interested in becoming a Digital Schoolhouse to make an application. The project caught Jo’s eye as an excellent opportunity to take advantage of the changing curriculum and she forwarded the information on to me. The prospect of becoming a central hub to support local primary schools in the delivery of a new and exciting curriculum seemed a wonderful adventure and one in which I definitely wanted the Computing department at Woodford to be involved. Jo, Rita Del-Giudice (the school’s network manager), and I completed the application and the journey began from there.
What are the basic aims of the Project? The vision driving the Digital Schoolhouse is to provide primary pupils and teachers with expert support and knowledge in studying and delivering the Key Stage 2 Computing curriculum. The change of the curriculum left many primary schools worried and in doubt as to whether they would be able to meet the new demands – especially as many teacher were not Computing specialists. As with any new subject, there were concerns as to how this new practical and constantly evolving subject was going to be delivered. The aim of the Digital Schoolhouse is to help keep those fears at bay and to provide a dedicated digital learning environment where structured workshops can be delivered. Fun-filled
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workshops for pupils and supportive CPD for teachers - and all provided free of charge to the users. The whole project supports delivering a robust and well-tailored curriculum in an enjoyable and stimulating way.
How can games help children understand computing better?
Gaming promotes creativity, problem solving and logical thinking and introduces concepts that may not cross the minds of children on a normal day to day basis: things like the use of variables, loops, how certain things interact with one another, calculations, cause and effect and so on.
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