Hi Everyone!

This week we have a very special guest, Simon Peyton Jones, who will be coming to talk about how his organisation Computing at School has completely changed the National Curriculum (more details below). This is something that has changed how computer science will be taught all the way from primary school onwards, and is an incredible feat!

Before that though, one of our sponsors, Ensoft, will be hosting a cocktails evening tonight (Monday) from 6:30 - 8:30.

All the juicy details:

Ensoft Recruitment Cocktail Evening

http://ox.compsoc.net/events/2013/michaelmas/ensoft_cocktail_evenint/ Date: Monday Week 5 - 11 November 2013 Time: 06:30 PM Facebook Event https://facebook.com/events/582886745081617/Place: House Bar http://ox.compsoc.net/events/venue/house_bar/Tags: Cocktails http://ox.compsoc.net/events/tags/cocktails/ Ensoft http://ox.compsoc.net/events/tags/ensoft/ External Sponsor Event http://ox.compsoc.net/events/tags/external_sponsor_event/

One of our Sponsors, Ensoft, is hosting a cocktails evening!

Monday 11th November 2013, an evening of drinks at The House, Blue Boar St. Pop in for a drink anytime from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.

Students from all disciplines are invited to join us for a cocktail and find out more about what we do. There'll be a chance to talk with members of the company over drinks and nibbles.

Guest Speaker: Simon Peyton Jones

http://ox.compsoc.net/events/2013/michaelmas/simon_peyton_jones/ Date: Wednesday Week 5 - 13 November 2013 Time: 05:00 PM Facebook Event https://facebook.com/events/1432000307013572/Place: Lecture Theatre B - Dept. of Computer Science http://ox.compsoc.net/events/venue/compsci_ltb/Tags: Academic http://ox.compsoc.net/events/tags/academic/ Guest Speaker http://ox.compsoc.net/events/tags/guest_speaker/ Talk http://ox.compsoc.net/events/tags/talk/

Turning the new school Computing curriculum into reality: opportunity and challenge

*Simon Peyton Jones http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/people/simonpj/:* /Microsoft Research and Computing at School working group/

The newly-published National Curriculum for Computing https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-computing-programmes-of-study establishes computer science, for the first time, as part of the school curriculum, from primary school onwards. This represents a radical change of perspective: most people regard computer science as a narrow subject for specialised geeks to study at university, whereas the new curriculum positions it as a foundational subject discipline like maths or physics, that every child should have the opportunity to learn.

Job done, then? Far from it: that was the easy bit! Now we have to support and equip the Computing teachers of the nation to deliver the new Computing curriculum, with confidence and enthusiasm.

In this talk I'll describe some of the thinking that lies behind the new curriculum, and the remarkable way that it moved from aspiration to reality in two years flat. I will also focus on the question of how we, the computing community, can engage with schools to turn the vision into reality. Doing this successfully needs all of us (students, academics, software developers, parents...), and I will invite your help in doing just that.

Learn to Code: Session 5

http://ox.compsoc.net/events/2013/michaelmas/learn_to_code_5/ Date: Saturday Week 5 - 16 November 2013 Time: 05:00 PM Facebook Event https://facebook.com/events/394052627391552/Place: Room 379 - Dept. of Computer Science http://ox.compsoc.net/events/venue/compsci_379/Tags: Learn to Code http://ox.compsoc.net/events/tags/learn/

*Note: Remember to bring your laptop to these events!*

About Learn to Code

During these events, there will be a mixture of interactive workshops and talks. We will be teaching you the basics of programming using Python http://www.python.org/. These events are good if you have zero coding experience, but they are also valuable if you already have started coding and would like to better your skills. We also welcome people who already have good coding experience as the more volunteers the better!

These events are always followed by our weekly Geek Night http://ox.compsoc.net/events/tags/geek_night/.

You can find out more information about this series of events over at ox.compsoc.net/learn http://ox.compsoc.net/learn/

We also have a facebook group for discussion if you are taking part in this course: fb.com/groups/OXLearnToCode https://www.facebook.com/groups/OXLearnToCode/

...and a group for those who would like to volunteer: fb.com/groups/OXLearnToCodeHelpers https://www.facebook.com/groups/OXLearnToCodeHelpers/

Geek Night 5

http://ox.compsoc.net/events/2013/michaelmas/geek_night_5/ Date: Saturday Week 5 - 16 November 2013 Time: 07:00 PM Facebook Event https://facebook.com/events/230271593815411/Place: Undergraduate Social Area - Dept. of Computer Science http://ox.compsoc.net/events/venue/compsci_social_area/Tags: Geek Night http://ox.compsoc.net/events/tags/geek_night/