Each month, Digital Schoolhouse welcomes you to The Playful Classroom,
where we'll explore the challenges and opportunities shaping computing education today.
Shahneila Saeed is Head of Education at Ukie and the Director of Digital Schoolhouse. She served as Head of Computing at an Inner London school for over 15 years before joining Ukie, where she spearheaded the creation of the Digital Schoolhouse Programme.
She is a prolific author, having penned books like "Hacking the Curriculum: Creative Computing & the Power of Play", "How to Raise a Tech Genius" and the forthcoming “Max Computing” series. She actively contributes to the field as a board member, trustee, and advisor for organisations including NCCE, Digit<all>, and Into Games.
Last month represented a hugely proud moment for both myself and Digital Schoolhouse, as I was asked to go to the Department of Education to speak about our proposal for a Digital Creativity GCSE.
This was the culmination of a decade’s work with Digital Schoolhouse where our ethos of teaching the computing curriculum in a playful way has delivered proven results again and again.
But it also gave me the opportunity to reflect on how we have achieved these things, and who has helped us on this mission, and it threw into sharp focus one thing:
We are only as strong as those who support us
For ten years we have worked with companies like Nintendo, EA, Xbox, SEGA, PlayStation, Ubisoft, Scirra and Outright Games. Together we have developed workshops based upon their IP and trained teachers in using playful computing methods to subsequently help hundreds of thousands of learners by making computing fun. They have helped us establish ourselves, grow and expand our reach and educate large numbers of teachers and children thanks to their incredible generosity.
We would not be here without their backing, and, as the financial year draws to a close, we at Digital Schoolhouse face the reality many not-for-profit organisations do – we need even more generosity to carry on into the next decade.
Digital Schoolhouse has had an impact, of that there is no doubt:
And it’s not just teachers who have felt the benefit.
It is working, and we want to do more, but we need help.
As a not-for-profit we don’t rely on donations, we work with partnerships. We work closely with our partners to tailor our offer to suit their needs and those of our learners, and we want to start up as many partnership conversations as possible.
So, what does Digital Schoolhouse offer partners?
Financial support is crucial for Digital Schoolhouse to continue its work. This allows us to deliver free workshops and resources to 50,000 pupils a year.
Our partners can collaborate on the development of educational resources and workshops that align with their industry expertise, they can share industry insights, provide real-world examples, and contribute to the creation and implementation of engaging learning experiences.
They help to bridge the gap between education and industry, providing students with valuable insights into potential career paths, as well as supporting professional development opportunities for teachers, helping them to stay up-to-date with the latest technologies and teaching methods.
Our partners are as passionate as we are about inspiring the next generation of digital creators and innovators, and we want to welcome new partners into the Digital Schoolhouse family.
So, if you think partnering with Digital Schoolhouse can benefit your company – or you know someone who might, please contact me below to begin a discussion.
Please spread the word.
We believe every child deserves a digital future, can you help us to help them?
