It gets to this time of year and you’re eager, or nervous (or both?) about starting term. New class, new displays, new colleagues, new behaviour management strategies, new photocopier (how in the world does that thing work?) and…. possibly you’ve taken on new subject leadership. Have you been given computing because you’re the youngest and therefore ‘know technology’? Or perhaps your an ECT and there for are ‘up to date with the latest training’? Or maybe you’ve been given it because you’re experienced and have done such a great job of leading other subjects. Or… maybe no one else wanted it and you made the mistake of going to the bathroom when they were allocating roles?
Or, you’ve retained computing and you’re in your second, third or tenth year of leading it. How is it going? Are you bossing it? Is everyone on board and smashing out excellent computing lessons, covering and assessing all parts of the computing curriculum?
Whatever your situation with leading primary computing, there always seems to be more to learn. More to get on top of, more to update or upgrade, more to try and squeeze in to an already full timetable, not to mention subject leader time to monitor your subject across the school!
The good news is that I am here to help. I was the National Specialist in Primary Computing Leadership for the National Centre for Computing in Education, and I’m currently a Senior Professional Development Leader and Subject Matter Expert for STEM Learning. I’m here to support you in any way that I can! First and foremost, I want to tell you about the new Primary Computing Leadership Journey. This has been developed to answer one of the most frequently asked questions of new computing leaders:
All these resources, ideas, pedagogy approaches and CPD courses are great, but where on earth do I start???
Look no further! This is a suggested route that takes you from activities that need to be prioritised when you first pick up the role, through to more detailed and deeper exploration in some of the finer aspects of computing. If you click on the image below you will be able to access the live Leadership Journey, where you can click on any of the leadership stages and incremental features for more information, CPD, resources and ideas. You don’t have to explore each aspect in this particular order, but it might serve as a good place to start! (Special thanks to Emma Booker, a fabulous computing lead who helped develop this idea in the first place via our Leadership Network Practitioners Panel!)
Next, allow me to reveal to you The Big Computing Leaders’ Conference on Tuesday 13th January 2027, being held in Oxford. Click on the link to see what happened in previous years, and to find the booking link. Stick it in your diaries now!
Next, I want to show you a few places for you to get ideas from, talk to other subject leaders, share best practice, ask questions, network, that kind of thing:
Primary Computing Coordinators – Facebook Group
Ideas for Computing in Primary Education – Facebook Group
Primary Computing – Facebook Group
Teaching and Leading Primary Computing – STEM Community Group
Please do keep an eye on this website – Run Don’t Walk Primary Computing. It will be full of helpful, interesting and above all, FREE resources and CPD.
Speaking of CPD, I’ve listed the main courses that are of most use to subject leaders. These are top notch courses that cover exactly what you need to know!
The most comprehensive course you can attend is ‘Leading Primary Computing’ which is split into three parts. All three are online and completely free; they are designed to give you first class CPD whilst helping you connect with a network of other leaders.
Leading Primary Computing Module 1
Once you have done Module 1, the second module is split into a 3 part remote course, again all online.
Leading Primary Computing Module 2
Finally, there is the brand new third part, which goes into depth on SEND, adaptive teaching, budget, transition and more:
Leading Primary Computing Module 3
In addition, or if you feel you’d like to go deeper into assessment and evidence gathering, there is also a specific face to face course:
Assessment in Primary Computing
If you are interested in taking the leadership pathway to getting your primary computing certificate, then please check out this link, with further courses and resources for you to choose from:
Primary Computing Certificate: Leadership Pathway
The next thing I want to tell you about, is the NCCE’s Teach Computing Curriculum. It is a research lead, up to date and completely free curriculum for you to download and take straight into your school. If you’ve never seen it before, do take. a look, it may save you time and money! If you are already rolling this out in your school or trying a phased change over from a previous scheme of work, may I recommend attending the Getting Started with the teach Computing Curriculum course, designed for leaders like you, to learn how to best deploy this curriculum and know about all the hardware and software requirements.
If you’ve decided to use the TCC for your school, the next step would be to agree with SLT for all teaching staff to attend year group specific training, which is again free, online, and geared towards giving teachers hands on experience of what their pupils will be learning as well as answering any of their questions. These ‘Getting started in year *x*’ courses are in two parts and usually held after school.
Year 1 – Year 2 – Year 3 – Year 4 – Year 5 – Year 6
Please feel free to get in touch and ask any further questions, otherwise I’ll see you online, on the training or at the conference!
Phil Wickins
If you found this blog helpful, why not buy Phil a coffee!!
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