After a few years of university and work, which resulted in time spent in Sheffield, South Korea, Germany, Hungary, Canterbury, and then London, I’m joining straight from a role in a legal tech start up, specifically working with software and AI in the immigration law space.

While I’ve always been a big fan of video games as a hobby (shoutout to my grandparents for giving me a special edition, Tri-Force themed golden GameBoy Advance with Zelda: Minish Cap one Christmas), the pandemic really broadened my view of the potential. During lockdown, groups of my friends would get together virtually to play everything from Overwatch and Apex Legends to Geoguessr and Minecraft. The new connections I managed to create as well as the friendships I was able to maintain over quite long distances gave me a whole new appreciation for what was previously “just” a hobby. Plus, I started a (to me) impressive journey of language learning using Duolingo, which really took my appreciation for play-based learning to a whole new level as well – I can now confidently (and badly) order food in Italian!

As a result of all this, when the opportunity arose to actually step into the video game industry with Amii’s planned absence I just couldn't say no. I’m incredibly excited to get started and witness the power of video games in education first-hand!!

Last week was epic for us to say the least, as we hosted our annual Summer Bootup Camp at the University of Westminster, bringing together some of the greatest minds in computing education for 3 days of interactive learning, workshops, masterclasses, talks and more. 

Additionally, we opened up our doors for day 2 of the Summer Bootup Camp, drafted in an additional range of inspiring speakers, and renamed the second day to the Playful Computing Conference. So, just a few small tweaks! 

On Day 3 of the Summer Bootup Camp '24, we honoured the outstanding Lead Teachers who have gone above and beyond over the last academic year in their delivery of the Digital Schoolhouse programme. This year was truly one to remember as we celebrated 10 years of Digital Schoolhouse. This saw the introduction of a special new award, named the Trailblazer School Award, which is dedicated to those schools who have been with the programme since its birth, 10 years ago.

Congratulations to everyone who was nominated for the awards, and a massive well done to the winners on the night. You are all leading the way in computing education and we are very proud to have all of you as part of the programme.

Every summer, the Digital Schoolhouse team host the Summer Boot Up Camp, a three-day event bringing together our network of Schoolhouses, both old and new, to network, learn and reflect on the past academic year. The event never fails to highlight the incredible work undertaken by our Lead Teachers, while regularly providing opportunities to engage with our industry partners and friends too through workshops and talks.

This year, we wanted to open this unique opportunity up to the wider education sector and so the Playful Computing Conference was born!

Taking place on the second day of our Summer Boot Up Camp, the Playful Computing Conference is an experience designed to bring together educators in STEM and Computer Science subjects with video games and edtech industry exhibitors to explore the future of digital and creative learning.

As the academic year draws to a close, Digital Schoolhouse welcomed 13 new Schoolhouses to the programme and celebrates the achievements of our existing Lead Teachers at our annual Summer Boot-Up Camp.

The SBUC is an annual event that allows us to bring together our teacher network for three days of inspiring workshops, exciting announcements and reflection on their successes over the past year.

Teachers from those 13 new schoolhouses descended upon the University of Westminster last week to begin their Digital Schoolhouse journey. We introduced them to various play-based learning pedagogies, hosted workshops with our own team and welcomed back one of our favourite computing academics, Paul Curzon, to gift us all again with his wisdom, knowledge and innovative teaching techniques. 

Brechin High School 

Discovery Trust - Enderby Danemill Primary School

Gibraltar Digital Skills Academy 

Kent School District (USA) 

Kineton High School

Newbattle High School

North Warwickshire & South Leicestershire College

Prince Albert High School

Shireland Collegiate Academy 

St Malachy's College

St Thomas More Catholic Academy 

The National Museum of Computing 

Congratulations to all of you for being successful in joining the programme, in what was our most popular year yet in terms of applicants. It's safe to say that the competition was extremely strong! We are super excited to see the sheer passion and energy that schools, educational institutes & teachers across the UK are bringing to DSH and the wider world of computing education.

We can't wait to see you get started in your new capacity as a Digital Schoolhouse Lead Teacher! 

The new cohort of Digital Schoolhouse Lead Teachers are ready to go!

If you're interested in applying to join the programme next year, or have any other queries, please don't hesitate to contact the Digital Schoolhouse team via our dedicated inbox - dsh@ukie.org.uk.