{"id":338,"date":"2025-10-07T18:55:46","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T18:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/wiproteacherfellow\/?p=338"},"modified":"2025-10-07T18:55:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T18:55:46","slug":"case-study-developing-subject-knowledge-and-pedagogy-though-mentoring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/wiproteacherfellow\/case-study-developing-subject-knowledge-and-pedagogy-though-mentoring\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study: Developing subject knowledge and pedagogy though mentoring"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alistair Lowe, Computer Science teacher at King Edward VII School, reflects on his mentoring of Megan Walker, the Computing Lead at Oughtibridge Primary School<\/strong><\/p>\n

My name is Alistair Lowe, and I\u2019m a Computer Science teacher at King Edward VII School in Sheffield. As part of the Wipro Mentoring Programme, I\u2019ve had the privilege of mentoring Megan Walker, the Computing Lead at Oughtibridge Primary School.<\/p>\n

From the outset, Megan showed a strong commitment to developing computing provision across her school. Our mentoring partnership focused on deepening curriculum understanding, aligning with national standards, and enhancing subject leadership. Together, we identified two key areas for development: the need to embed national standards into teaching practice, and how to translate theoretical approaches into practical, meaningful learning in the classroom.<\/p>\n

Our first meeting was a face-to-face visit to Oughtibridge, where we carried out lesson observations, held informal discussions with KS1 and KS2 students, and spoke to teachers about their experiences delivering the computing curriculum. These conversations uncovered important insights\u2014such as some pupils perceiving computing as simply \u201cusing the computer suite\u201d\u2014and raised key questions like, \u201cWhat is the purpose of this lesson, and why now?\u201d<\/p>\n

This evidence formed the basis of our collaborative action plan. We agreed on the need to improve the clarity of curriculum intent, strengthen lesson rationale, and incorporate real-life problems to make learning more meaningful. Megan and I continued our work over Zoom, focusing on creating a progression grid to justify the sequence and purpose of each computing unit. Megan led the creation of this resource, and we each contributed to it with the aim of further evaluating it in a follow-up meeting.<\/p>\n

One of the most rewarding outcomes of our mentoring partnership was the impact it had on the school\u2019s wider development. In January 2025, an academy-led inspection was carried out as part of a computing review at Oughtibridge. This formal visit by senior leaders and trust representatives used a deep dive approach\u2014observing lessons, interviewing staff and students, and reviewing curriculum intent and delivery.<\/p>\n

The feedback from this review was overwhelmingly positive. Inspectors praised Megan\u2019s subject leadership, highlighting her clear vision, effective planning, and the cultural shift she had achieved within the school. The report recognised how well the NCCE Teach Computing scheme had been implemented, noted high pupil engagement, and commended the thoughtful sequencing, modelling, and vocabulary use observed in lessons.<\/p>\n

This successful inspection validated the work we\u2019d done together. It was a tangible demonstration of the progress made\u2014not just in planning and delivery, but in building confidence, capacity, and leadership. For me, this mentoring journey has been deeply rewarding and a clear example of how collaboration and reflective practice can drive real improvement in computing education.<\/p>\n

Alistair (Mentor) and Megan (Teacher Fellow) discuss their work together in this recording:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alistair Lowe, Computer Science teacher at King Edward VII School, reflects on his mentoring of Megan Walker, the Computing Lead at Oughtibridge Primary School My name is Alistair Lowe, and I\u2019m a Computer Science teacher at King Edward VII School … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45770,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/patusS-5s","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":194,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/wiproteacherfellow\/subject-coaching-and-mentoring-in-secondary-computing\/","url_meta":{"origin":338,"position":0},"title":"Subject coaching and mentoring in Secondary Computing","author":"Richard Pountney","date":"January 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"My name is Jason Davis, I\u2019m a Computer Science teacher at Handsworth Grange School, Sheffield. I joined the WIPRO Mentor Programme in January 2019. I first heard about the scheme from my line manager at work. Right away, I was intrigued by the potential of the project to improve my\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/wiproteacherfellow\/files\/2020\/01\/Jason-Davis.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":318,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/wiproteacherfellow\/case-study-anthony-wells\/","url_meta":{"origin":338,"position":1},"title":"Case Study: Developing others, and one’s own, practice, through mentoring","author":"rp7884","date":"October 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Anthony Wells, Executive Deputy in 2 Lincolnshire schools, talks about his mentoring experience with Richard Pountney, lead for the mentoring strand of the Wipro Programme. Anthony and Richard Transcript Anthony also reflects further on his time on the programme: \"Over the last 2 years since joining the Wipro mentoring program\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":101,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/wiproteacherfellow\/getting-started-in-our-mentoring-roles\/","url_meta":{"origin":338,"position":2},"title":"Getting started in our mentoring roles","author":"Richard Pountney","date":"January 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"On Wednesday 23rd January the first of three webinars of the Wipro took place attended by the Wipro Mentors and members of the project team, Richard Pountney, lead for the Mentor strand of the project, and Emily Perry, project lead. \u00a0It followed the launch of the project on 17th January,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/wiproteacherfellow\/files\/2019\/01\/session-1-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":221,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/wiproteacherfellow\/evaluating-the-wipro-programme\/","url_meta":{"origin":338,"position":3},"title":"Evaluating the Wipro programme","author":"Emily Perry","date":"September 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Alongside delivering the Wipro programme for Teacher Fellows and mentors, we are carrying out an internal, formative evaluation.\u00a0 This plays a key part in our quality assurance of the programme, by helping us to understand participants' experiences and perceptions, what they learn and enjoy and what we can do better.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":325,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/wiproteacherfellow\/case-study-senior-mentor-and-mentor-working-together\/","url_meta":{"origin":338,"position":4},"title":"Case Study: Senior Mentor and Mentor working together","author":"rp7884","date":"October 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Rachel Brooke, Senior Mentor, and Celina Tinker, Teacher Mentor, talk about their shared experiences of working together on the Wipro Programme and what they have learned. Rachel and Celina Transcript \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/wiproteacherfellow\/files\/2025\/10\/Rachel-photo-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":74,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/wiproteacherfellow\/getting-started\/","url_meta":{"origin":338,"position":5},"title":"Getting started","author":"Emily Perry","date":"January 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"We're looking forward to getting started with the Wipro programme in a few days.\u00a0 We have over twenty teachers - fellows and mentors - joining the first cohort from schools in Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Derbyshire, who teach science, mathematics and computer science. 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