Computing Hub - London, Hertfordshire & Essex
Welcome to the Computing Hub for London, Hertfordshire and Essex, led by Saffron Walden County High School. As your local curriculum hub for computing, we provide local training and support for teachers, schools and colleges across London, Hertfordshire and Essex.
We are proud to be part of the National Centre for Computing Education and to support schools and colleges across the region to provide a high-quality computing education for all young people and high-quality support for the teaching of computing in schools and colleges, from Key Stage 1 through to A-level. The extensive range of training, resources and support covers elements of the curriculum at every Key Stage, catering for all levels of subject knowledge and experience.
The National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) is funded by the Department for Education and marks a significant investment in improving the provision of computing education in England. Our vision is to achieve a world-leading computing education for every child in England.
Areas covered:
- Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Broxbourne, Castle Point, Chelmsford, East Hertfordshire, Epping Forest, Harlow, Maldon, Rochford, Southend-on-Sea, Uttlesford, Welwyn Hatfield and the London boroughs of Barnet, Enfield, and Haringey.
Keep up to date:
For the latest computing support from the National Centre for Computing Education and the London, Hertfordshire and Essex Computing Hub, register for a free account on teachcomputing.org and opt to receive email communications.
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/TeachComputingSWCHS
- X: @ncceswchs
- Email: teachcomputing@swchs.net
- Tel: 01799 513030 ext. 1264
Courses and events
The NCCE offer an extensive programme of high impact, professional development led by subject experts. The FREE CPD courses can help teachers become more confident in contextualising computing as a subject and linking it to future study and careers. Led by experienced subject specialists, all the courses are quality assured and mapped to the curriculum in England and can help teachers apply the latest best practice. Teachers can choose how and when they want to learn through face-to-face, online, or live remote training and make your learning go further by enrolling on our national certificates in subject knowledge, primary computing or secondary computing.
For a list of all our upcoming CPD and to book a place, visit the London, Hertfordshire and Essex Computing Hub course page.
Funding and subsidies
The National Centre for Computing Education offer financial support to state-funded schools and colleges across England, including subsidies to support supply cover for professional development and curriculum delivery.
To find out more about financial support, please select an option below:
If you have any questions, contact us at TeachComputing@swchs.net
Teach Computing
Teach primary computing
We offer free training courses and enrichment to help develop your understanding of computing as a subject and prepare you for the classroom. By participating in our courses, you can work towards our professionally recognised training certificate for teaching primary computing. This qualification offers support to teachers from all backgrounds who want to improve their computing knowledge and will help identify and overcome any gaps in knowledge.
Teach Computing Curriculum
If you are on placement or have started your NQT year and would like support with planning lessons and units, the Teach Computing Curriculum is here to help. It contains everything you need to teach computing at key stages 1-4, including lesson plans, slides and worksheets.
Subject knowledge certificate
Funded by the Department for Education, the Key stage 3 and GCSE Computer Science certificate is a professional development programme for current and aspiring computing teachers, which leads to a nationally recognised certificate in computer science subject knowledge. This qualification will help you build on what you have learnt in your formal training programme and give you a range of options to meet your development needs. Whether you are looking to upskill yourself in particular areas of the curriculum or feel less confident with the theory side, you can choose how and when you participate in CPD, helping you fit your learning around other commitments.
Why develop computing as a subject?
- It can increase your versatility as a qualified teacher by developing your computational knowledge and giving you transferable life skills.
- There is a shortage of computing teachers – adding computing to your CV may improve employability and job security.
- You can gain a national certificate in computer science subject knowledge (awarded by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT).
Computing Quality Framework
The Computing Quality Framework is part of the National Centre for Computing Education’s (NCCE) support to schools. It is free to use and designed to help schools review and plan how they teach the computing curriculum.
Features & Benefits
- Receive immediate feedback and suggested actions to help your school develop its computing curriculum.
- Log sources of evidence, comments, and action points within your account.
- Easily compile and print a wide range of reports for sharing with Ofsted and governors.
- Compare and benchmark your responses with other schools.
Please click here to register your school and complete the initial assessment.
Encouraging Girls into Computer Science
Computer science is the fastest-growing STEM subject, and yet, despite its popularity, girls are consistently outnumbered by boys. In 2023, only one in five GCSE Computer Science and 15% of all A level Computer Science entries were from female students in England.
To support more girls into computer science qualifications and careers, the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) has launched a programme; I Belong: Encouraging girls into computer science
The evidence-informed programme aims to help teachers and leaders understand the barriers to girls’ participation in computer science and make a plan to overcome them. We offer curated resources, training, and implementation support to provide teachers with the knowledge and tools to develop an understanding of the factors affecting girls participation in computer science.
Where to start?
- Enrol on the programme here.
- Obtain your free handbook and posters.
- Explore the programme.
Physical Computing kits
Physical computing can be utilised to fulfil many areas of the computing curriculum at all key stages. Whilst primarily supporting the development of programming skills, it can also support more conceptual areas of the curriculum. Through physical computing, students can encounter, develop, and practice the whole range of programming skills and concepts, including sequences, loops, conditionals, functions, and data structures. Alongside applying these concepts, they will also encounter other languages, models of programming, and novel computer systems. Enrich your school’s computing curriculum by providing your learners with the opportunity to engage in the hugely motivating experience of hands-on physical computing! Guide to physical computing kits
Our Computing Hub operates a very successful loan scheme as part of the Teach Computing curriculum, and this is accompanied by a FREE modelled lesson delivered by our Professional Development Lead. This ensures that teachers gain practical understanding and skills to complete the relevant physical computing units of work and that this knowledge is extended to the broader Computing curriculum. These integrated physical kit loans are booked up quickly over the academic year so please do secure your booking early.
Our Computing Hub can loan you the following kits - Beebot, Crumble, Data logger, Microbit, Raspberry Pi Pico and Raspberry Pi 3B.
Please contact us to book your kit and modelled lesson.