We’re making sure primary school teachers can deliver the computer curriculum brilliantly through the Barefoot Computing programme.
In partnership with Computing at School (CAS), we’re giving them the training, support and classroom resources they need. All developed by teachers, for teachers. We’ve already helped over 70,000 teachers and 2 million children master computational thinking. Our goal is to reach 3 million more by 2025.
Watch this space.
A chance to give back
“I’d already done a bit of volunteering as it’s something BT really encourages. But Barefoot brought together areas that meant something to me. When I started I had a young family, so helping children appealed, and it involved computer programming, my professional background. I always wanted to give back.”
Preparing for our digital future
“Barefoot Volunteers go into primary schools to host workshops with teachers. We give them skills to teach computing in the classroom. But it’s not just about coding, it's showing them the building blocks that lead up to this. I gave my first workshop in 2016. I like to put on a little bit of a show – change it up, get them out of their seats, make it interactive. I want to make the workshop the best it can be.”
“I don't want to be working when these kids come out from school – I'd be out of a job straight away.”
An unstoppable generation
“It’s so important for programming skills to be second nature to kids. That way, they’ll appreciate how to build stuff in the future. It’s going to push forward technology at a much faster rate. And then what? These kids are going to fly.”
Overcoming obstacles
“And I’m no stranger to being in the learning seat. In 2011 I was made redundant from my job as a computer programmer. I was 40 years old but I took a leap and joined BT’s apprenticeship scheme. I did my degree, work experience, secondments. And actually, it turned out to be the best choice I've made, career-wise.”
“Volunteering with Barefoot has shown me we never stop learning.”
“Bouncing off the other apprentices was invigorating. It made me challenge the status quo.”
A fresh perspective
“The majority of people were in their late teens or early 20s and working with them enriched me. They inspired me to change my outlook, push myself further and seek out new opportunities. I ask myself, where can you go with this? It really has been a case of, you can go anywhere.”