Skills for Tomorrow

As part of its Skills for Tomorrow programme, BT has teamed up with Computing at School (CAS), to launch a range of activities, designed to assist parents develop their children’s digital skills at home. The series of activities is based on the Barefoot Computing programme, a programme funded and managed by BT in partnership with CAS, to help primary school teachers deliver free, curriculum-aligned lessons in fun and relatable ways. So far, more than 8,800 primary school teachers in Scotland have already accessed Barefoot, across more than 1,600 Scottish primaries. However, with most children now having to be schooled at home, the scheme has been swiftly adapted to provide new lessons, activities and games. Content has been developed to be easy for parents to use, with no prior subject knowledge required. Many of the activities can also be done offline without the need for a computer – ideal for managing screen time and digital wellbeing. A recent BT study revealed that millions of parents across the UK can only spend up to two hours a day teaching their children during lockdown. Just 24% of parents say they feel comfortable teaching IT and computer science, with nearly all (92%) saying they’re uncomfortable with key topics such as coding. It’s likely that many parents will shy away from computing in favour of more familiar subjects.

Visit www.bt.com/skillsfortomorrow.