Acton school ahead of rest with Computing lessons (From Ealing Times)

Acton school ahead of rest with Computing lessons

9:23am Saturday 7th January 2012 in Local News By Hannah Kurzawski

THE way ICT is taught in UK schools has been criticised by industry figures.

Erich Schmidt, of Google, said the UK would miss out, as youngsters are simply taught how to use office applications, such as Word and Excel, and not the vital technical skills needed in today’s competitive society.

Ofsted recently published a report claiming that British students were not sufficiently challenged in their ICT lessons as staff were not confident in teaching more difficult topics, such as programming.

Google and Microsoft are calling for major changes in how computing is taught to equip Britain with the skills it needs to compete in both the global technology and digital fields.

However, one Ealing school is already a step ahead, having anticipated proposed changes in the national curriculum towards.

Acton High School has begun teaching computer programming and technical issues in more depth in ICT lessons.

The school offers Computing both at GCSE and at AS Level for under 16s, with some pupils taking the latter a year early.

There are plans to expand the teaching of Computing after the opening of its new sixth form in September.

This decision appears to have gone down well with pupils.

Year 10 student Louis, studying for his GCSE in Computing, said tha, although ICT lessons are now harder, they are more exciting. He has ambitions of working with programming and music when he leaves school.

Classmate Wiktor says he is now able to create his own software, as opposed to using what someone else had created.

Student Maria says Computing is the one of the only subjects she really looks forward to.

She said: “I find ICT boring, but Computing is fascinating. Not so much the programming, but the other stuff – the theory. It's more technical.

“My dad is always on about stuff like IP addresses. It's nice to be able to learn about it so I know what he's going on about!”

Teachers are just as enthused with the new changes and are delighted with the response from pupils. Teacher Stephen Ford explained that this was the first year the school had offered the course, and it had proved so popular that two classes had to be created.

Hardip Mothada, assistant head, added "It's not just the programming and technical knowledge that the students gain, it's the creative thinking and problem solving skills that are so valuable in the modern workplace.

“This country has always been a world leader in computing, gaming and digital imaging. We are delighted that Acton High students have risen so enthusiastically to this new challenge.”