Computing outreach programme gets royal seal of approval

14 Oct 2016

Our School of Computer Science recognised for work in schools

Sarah Zaman and Dave Ames attended a reception at St James’s Palace hosted by HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York on 5 October to celebrate the success of computing education in schools.

The royal invitation acknowledges Sarah and Dave’s instrumental role in using the Raspberry Pi to deliver programming and other aspects of computing to teachers and schools.

His Royal Highness is the Patron of the Raspberry Pi Foundation. The Raspberry Pi is a single-board computer, designed specifically for educational purposes and is ideal for introducing children to many of the key concepts in computing. 

The University is widely recognised as delivering a highly successful computing outreach to schools, with three members of the School of Computer Science employed exclusively to support schools and school teachers. Our outreach programme is funded by the Department for Education, and currently supports over 2,200 schools, both primary and secondary, with a host of activities aimed at introducing exciting computing in schools and supporting teachers in its delivery. 

After the reception, Sarah said: "Prince Andrew's commitment to Computer Science was impressive. His speech showed both his commitment and his knowledge of what is happening in computing education."