Ashton College Teacher Training Partnership choose Aldwyn Primary School for Computing CDP

Aldwyn Primary School welcomed 24 PGCE students from Ashton College as part of their ongoing training to become fully qualified teachers. The morning was all about teaching Computing at primary school level. The students observed Mr. Goodier delivering lessons to our Year 6 and Year 3 classes. 



Year 6 have been building a website as part of their e-commerce project and Year 3 have been building and designing branching databases. The PGCE students were very impressed with what they saw and asked the children lots of questions. Sharron Galley, student lead from the college, was very impressed with the high quality of work and the outstanding behaviour. Well done children, you are a credit to our school.

During the Q&A at the end all students expressed surprise at the high level children were working at and their knowledge and understanding of what they were doing. Many students who had only left school a few years ago were more than surprised to see Year 6 building an online shopping website. During the second session Year 3 explained to PGCE students how to use the software to create a Branching Database and PGCE students, led by children, designed and tested a number of new databases.


What did come out was students' expectations of what children can achieve in computing lessons based on their experiences in other schools - these expectations have completely flipped. It was explained that children at Aldwyn Primary School can only do this type of work because we have invested in the 21st century learning platforms and got children using these systems from year 2 onward.

Our aim was to make sure PGCE students got a 110% out of their visit and CPD and I think the email sent by Sharron Galley, Head of School Direct, after the event shows this.

Hi John and Neil,
I just wanted to say how useful and engaging today's session was for our primary trainees. They have all left today understanding the curriculum in more depth and thanks to the signposting by John, they know where to get more training and how to access resources to use in their own teaching. 

The children were impeccably behaved and knowledgeable (and thankfully didn't get fed up with us asking them lots of questions!). 

Thank you so much for having us and for providing the tea, coffee and snacks!

Please can you also pass on my thanks to Mr Beaty and to the staff and children in Y3 and Y6? 

best wishes and see you soon,

Sharron Galley (she/her) Head of School Direct