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/>
--
Kind Regards,
Sam
Sam Lanning
President - Oxford University Computer Society
president(a)ox.compsoc.net <mailto:president@ox.compsoc.net>