Inspiring Computing Students Beyond the Classroom

If you were unable to join us for the ‘Free Events, Residentials, and Work Experience for KS3-5’ thematic community meeting, don’t worry! You can catch up on the session’s highlights below.

Key Takeaways

1.Esports and Workshops: Initiatives like Digital Schoolhouse help secondary schools engage students in computing through esports tournaments and workshops.

2.Free RAF Museum Opportunities: The RAF Museum offers immersive, fully-funded events such as glider challenges and work experience placements.

3.Girls in STEM: Events like I Belong and CyberFirst focus on boosting girls’ interest in computing and tech careers.

4.Trips and Residentials: From Bletchley Park to RAF Cosford, a variety of day trips and residential programmes enrich learning.

5.Building Connections: Successful trips often rely on teacher initiative to create partnerships with tech companies like EA Sports or BT.

The session began with Martin Sexton sharing a wealth of experiences in organising school trips that energise computing education. He discussed initiatives such as Digital Schoolhouse, where esports tournaments (like Splatoon) offer students opportunities to engage in computing beyond the classroom. Schools can also host workshops to support local primary schools, particularly helping non-specialist teachers explore what computing can look like in action.

Martin highlighted events like the I Belong programme, which targets Year 8 and 9 girls, encouraging them to consider computing through problem-solving activities. He also shared the impact of visiting locations like BT’s Adastral Park, where students experience cutting-edge technologies and explore career opportunities with industry professionals.

Martin’s reflections emphasised how trips to venues like Bletchley Park and the Centre for Computing History give students practical and historical perspectives on computing. He described larger-scale initiatives, including hosting Innovation Days with ARM and even ambitious residential trips to Silicon Valley, where students visited global tech leaders like Google and Intel.

The second half of the session showcased free and fully-funded opportunities offered by the Royal Air Force Museum, Midlands. Sarah Partington and Lucy Watkiss outlined incredible programmes such as:

•Work Experience Placements: Flexible, hands-on opportunities for students in Year 10 and above to explore museum roles, from curatorial work to marketing.

•Glider Challenge: A free annual STEM challenge where teams design and launch gliders, fostering teamwork and problem-solving skills.

•Youth Advisory Panel: A fantastic opportunity for 16-24-year-olds to gain real-world experience influencing museum development and exhibitions.

•Summertime Advanced Aerospace Residential (STAAR): A fully-funded, immersive residential for Year 9 students nationwide, including drone challenges, AI projects, and exclusive RAF Cosford access.

The team encouraged teachers to support student applications for these programmes and highlighted the museum’s ongoing commitment to STEM outreach.

Next Steps

To consider how you might integrate trips or external programmes into your own school’s computing offer, reflect on these questions:

1.How could you use trips or workshops to engage non-specialist teachers and primary partners?

2.What barriers do students in your school face when accessing enrichment opportunities? How can you address these?

3.Are there local STEM organisations or industry connections you could partner with to provide real-world experiences?

Try This:

•Host a mini Innovation Day using an AI or robotics challenge.

•Explore esports by organising an internal tournament that involves non-traditional roles like commentators or analysts.

To get in touch with the RAF museum, here are some email addresses:

workexperience@rafmuseum.org - work experience

midlandsyouthpanel@rafmuseum.org - Youth Panel

learning-midlands@rafmuseum.org - learning offer

STAAR@rafmuseum.org - STAAR programme

Click here to watch the recording