First introduced in 2014, the Barefoot project quickly established itself as the go-to resource for computational thinking in the classroom. Proudly supported by BT and Computing at School, more than 4,500 computational thinking workshops have since been delivered by a nationwide army of passionate volunteers. As a result, teachers from all over the country have received our free CPD which introduces the Barefoot resources currently used by 67% of UK schools. This, in turn, has helped to support the education of 2 million pupils on their computational journeys.
Past, present, and future
Five years is a very long time in the world of primary computing and as educators have collectively sought best practice, our classrooms have evolved rapidly. To reflect these changes (whilst also giving a healthy nod to history), our recently-launched Code Cracking resource consists of a unit of six lessons which introduce pupils to the history of computing and, in particular, how computers were used as code-cracking devices in World War II. This is just one example of how Barefoot remains fresh and relevant within the wider primary curriculum. Why not request a workshop using the code ‘CUP’ to receive a free classroom pack and also be in with a chance to win a trip to Bletchley Park?
Programming workshops for teachers
Those behind Barefoot are committed to ensuring the project remains responsive to the changing needs of frontline teaching. As classroom hardware steadily becomes more reliable, the long-standing barrier to ‘plugged’ coding activities has become progressively smaller. Increased accessibility is fueling demand for greater hands-on support and training, especially teachers who are itching to use Scratch. Thanks to a growing community of CAS ambassadors, the Barefoot Programming workshop is already being piloted in schools, and aims to up-scale towards national workshop delivery ahead of the curve and the new challenges ahead. Visit the CAS website if you are after a programming workshop in your area.
