Outreach

I'm the Outreach Coordinator for Informatics and created and run the Informatics Tutoring Network with Kasia Kokowska. This involves students from Informatics tutoring young people at exam level in schools in deprived areas. We're always keen to expand to new schools, so if you're a teacher or parent and are interested in working with us, get in touch. We are also planning to expand the scheme to other universities, so please get in touch if you're interested in that.

I used to run the First Lego League in Scotland. I'm not involved in that anymore, but it's still running and growing and is a great inititiave for teams of kids aged 9-16.

I coordinate the Informatics sessions in the Sutton Trust, helped by our excellent students, and run various other outreach initiatives in the school.

CS outreach is very important: numbers of young people in Scotland taking exam CS at exam level continues to decrease, and there is significant inequity in the subject, with CS one of the few STEM subjects where gender inequality continues to increase.

With the tech industry and other industries dependent on CS skills a crucial part of the economy, the skills gap in the job market continues to widen. This leads to huge missed opportunities for young people, for industry and for the country. I am keen to collaborate with a wide range of people to work on this problem: teachers, young people, local authorities, government bodies, academics, etc. If you have ideas about activities or would like some support in promoting CS, please get in touch.

Useful resources for engaging and supporting kids in CS

Note: not all activities may be running during Covid

• Code Club is an excellent way to engage kids with coding. There might be one running near you. If not, why don't you set up your own? Code Club provides all the materials - all you need to do is to liaise with your kids' school or club, find an hour a week, and have some basic coding knowledge yourself. You don't need to be an expert! I ran a Code Club at my children's school for many years and really enjoyed it.
• Coder Dojo are free open programming clubs for young people which are really fun and engaging.