A CONFERENCE in Bradford will help give school staff a boost in confidence when it comes to teaching technical computing issues to pupils.

A report released by the Royal Society last year revealed that many teachers have found it challenging to give instruction in some of the more specialised aspects of IT classes since the introduction of Computing to the National Curriculum in 2014.

Now nationally-recognised experts are heading to the city to lead a conference aimed at helping teachers to develop exciting and effective ways to convey the subject in the classroom.

The conference, called #exabytes18, which takes place at the Midland Hotel, in Bradford, on June 29, is being hosted by exa.foundation and funded by Exa Networks, the city centre-based internet service provider.

It offers teachers a full day of workshops and presentations and includes keynote sessions by Miles Berry, Subject Leader for Computing Education at the University of Roehampton, and Phil Bagge, a Computing Master Teacher and contributor to the National Computing Curriculum.

Conference organiser Alan O’Donohoe, exa.foundation’s specialist leader in education, said: “When I became the first-ever Computing teacher in my school, to say I was daunted is an understatement!

“With #exabytes18, I really wanted to provide an event which was genuinely useful for teachers – with absolutely no sales pitches, or demonstrations of expensive resources – just, fun, innovative ways of teaching with technology.”

The conference is in its third year and Mr O’Donohoe said it keeps improving as teachers become more engaged.

“Teachers in Bradford are some of the most enthusiastic and committed I’ve ever met, and each year #exabytes just gets bigger and better as more and more come to share ideas, get inspiration and learn from expert educators,” he said.

The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) event is open to teachers across all Key Stages and offers more than 20 different sessions – workshops, discussions and presentations – to choose from.

Tickets are available to book from www.exa.is/exabytes18

exa.foundation is a not-for-profit branch of leading independent ISP Exa Education, founded in 2015 in order to inspire, support and promote the safe, secure, appropriate and effective use of technology in education. Our work is designed to benefit a wide range of groups in and around education - teachers, students, schools, families and even some businesses.