Tameside College set to be regional hub for computing specialists

The National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) @WeAreComputing has announced that @TamesideCollege will become the #ComputingHub for Greater Manchester

The college is part of a network of over 30 Computing Hubs across England which will be focal points for local computing training for primary and secondary schools and will also form links with industry and universities.

The NCCE was set up in November 2018, with funding from the Department for Education to increase the number of pupils in schools and colleges who study computer science at GCSE, AS and A level, particularly girls and those in disadvantaged areas, and to ensure that there is a strong pipeline of digital skills in England

Computing courses for teachers will be launched in April and delivered within the college “digital zone” in Ashton-under-Lyne town centre with an investment in digital technologies of over £500k and links with digital industry employers to lead the way in training and development of all digital technologies for school leavers and adults.

Jackie Moores, principal at Tameside College, said: ‘We are delighted to have been selected as the regional Computing Hub serving Greater Manchester. Tameside College will lead the professional development of teachers in computing and digital skills that will benefit the future workforce. This appointment reinforces the college’s vision of providing the best education in the best facilities possible.’

Chair of the National Centre for Computing Education, Professor Simon Peyton Jones said: “The Hubs are the local face of the National Centre for Computing Education, providing tailored support to all computing teachers (primary, secondary and colleges), to equip them to make the new computing curriculum into an inspirational reality in every classroom in the land.

“Our partnership with teachers is vital to our mission. A single inspired, equipped, valued and supported teacher will influence tens or hundreds of children every day, and thousands over their career.”

The NCCE – which is led by a consortium of; STEM Learning, Raspberry Pi and BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT – is working to equip teachers with the confidence and expertise to teach the new, reformed computer science curriculum.